The Ninth Legend
by Evil Neptune
Summary: Created as an entry to High Crystal Guardian's fanfiction contest. Please read her fanfics before you read this one, or you may not understand parts. See inside for a plot summary. Latest Chapter- 5: Victory
1. Chapter One: Vanished

The Ninth Legend

An original fanfanfiction by Evil Neptune

Inspired by the works of High Crystal Guardian

SUMMARY: Learning that there is a disturbance in the fabric of the Realms that stretched beyond the True and Negative Realms' borders, residents of both the True and Negative Home Realms must join together for a third time in order to stop the fulfillment of a legend telling of the destruction of all twelve Realm Groups. Created as an entry to High Crystal Guardian's fanfanfiction contest "Negative Contest."

DISCLAIMER: Yugi Motou, Yami Yugi, Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor, Tea Gardner, Seto Kaiba, Mokuba Kaiba, Ryou Bakura, Yami Bakura, Mai Valentine, Rex Raptor, Mako Tsunami, Millennium Items, Duel Monsters, and other related "Yu-Gi-Oh!" elements are copyright 4Kids Entertainment and other related legal entities. The True Realm, Negative Realm, Kawari, Kaeru, Kaze, Saguru, and other related Negative Realm ideas are copyright High Crystal Guardian and are used with her permission. The author claims no ownership over these ideas and is not attempting to make a profit with this work of fan fan fiction.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story takes place after the events of "Negative Chaos." This was necessary because I wanted the Negative Realm characters to be more or less used to (if not entirely comfortable with) True Yami and already know most of their True Realm counterparts (in other words, I didn't want to have to write the "meetings and reactions" chapters all over again). However, since the entire story of Negative Chaos has not been completed as of the beginning of this fanfanfiction (August 11, 2003), facts from this story will not be mentioned as I run the risk of getting them wrong. If anything I write contains any glaring errors, I'll try to correct them as best I can.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm assuming the readers are familiar with both the animé "Yu-Gi-Oh!" and with High Crystal Guardian's "Negative Realm" stories, as no explanations or introductions will be given for characters already featured in one of these mediums. Original characters or characters presumed to exist in HCG's stories but never introduced, of course, are excepted.

FINAL AUTHOR'S NOTE:

"A character speaking."

__

A character thinking.

\A Hikari talking to his/her Yami through a mind-link.\

\\A Yami talking to his/her Hikari through a mind-link.\\

*A True overhearing his/her Negative's thoughts or vice-versa*

And now, on with the fanfanfiction!

Kawari leapt behind the pair of overturned cars quickly, the report of gunfire blazing in his ears and a spray of bullets clashing to the ground where he had originally stood. He groaned softly in pain and leaned back against one of the car wheels, observing his momentary shelter. 

It was much the shape of a triangle--the wall of a brick building made up one side, while the overturned cars made a second wall. The third side was open, his means of entry and escape. At the moment, his shelter also served as his prison; he had no chance of making his way out of it without being shot down by the Hand of the Shadow's agents.

Kaeru, his yami, dived inside the shelter soon after him, stopping only momentarily to fire several bullets rapidly from a stolen pistol. Several screams were heard from the unseen other side, where the Hand's agents stood--Kaeru had excellent aim, and rarely missed unless he was in a blind fury. Three more agents were down for the count. 

Sheathing _Gin Hebi,_ which until that moment had been clutched in his black-gloved hand, Kawari groaned, "How is it out there?"

"Not good," Kaeru replied, frowning. "We can hold them off for now, but if they call reinforcements..." he let it hang.

"Everything's going wrong today," Kawari muttered. He pulled a strip of cloth from his pocket and quickly began wrapping it around the deep cut on his arm, using his free hand and teeth to tie it tightly and ignoring the stinging, painful sensation it caused. After a few minutes, he finished; it wasn't perfect, but it would serve as a temporary bandage until he could get the proper medical help.

Kaeru wordlessly bent down, ripping more cloth from his dark gray tee-shirt that was underneath his jacket, and hurriedly bandaged a second cut on his hikari's lower thigh. He'd been stabbed there, god knew how, but the bleeding had been becoming more rapid due to the lighter being's use of his leg, and the spirit knew it had to be bandaged quick.

Kawari frowned at this. "Aren't you going to patch yourself up a bit first? It's not like we're going anywhere for a while."

Kaeru shook his head. "Priorities, aibou. You come first. I can always return to the Ring and form a new body for myself, should it come to it."

Kawari shrugged, taking up the gun Kaeru had placed on the ground in case of attack, but all the while keeping his eye on his yami. The spirit's wounds were considerably worse, due to the fact that his body was expandable and could heal itself simply by returning to it's item. The Negative Ryou could count at least six bullet holes in various places (including one uncomfortably close to the yami's heart), other stab wounds, and quite a bit of bleeding. Kaeru would have to return to the Ring soon or his temporary body would die.

"I don't understand," Kawari muttered, after several minutes had gone by in silence between the two. He spoke mostly for a change in sound; the fire of bullets and shouts of the Hand of the Shadow's agents was not something interesting to listen to. "We were supposed to have backup, Kaze told us that in the mission briefing. I'd trust him, so what happened to the squad he was sending to cover us?"

"I don't know," Kaeru admitted, leaning back to sit next to his aibou against the broken, twisted frame of one of the overturned cars. "They should have shown up long before now. Because they didn't, we're stuck surrounded by the enemy in a makeshift shelter and hoping for the best." Neither of them said it, but it was a likely possibility that they could die then and there.

Kawari was about to reply, but at that precise moment a small beep in his left ear claimed his attention. It was his communicator, of sorts; months before, while he had still been Mind-Lost, a silver earring had been installed that was actually a well-hidden radio-like device. The frequency that connected to the earring was well guarded, and practically impossible to tap. It was also private, and usually only used for the white-haired teen's spy missions, when carrying a larger communicator would be foolish if he should ever get caught--while no one would ever suspect an innocent little silver hoop. 

Kawari had resented it at first, for it was one of the few things Kaeru had ever done to his body without permission (though, to be fair, how was Kaeru supposed to ask him when his mind was trapped in a labyrinth of the darkest terrors?). Yet now, at this particular moment, he thanked every god he could think of for having it--perhaps he could somehow tell another of his predicament.

Pressing his finger to the silver hoop, Kawari hissed loudly so that he could be heard. "Yes?"

"Where on _Earth _are you?" Kaze, voice full of frantic anger, spat over the communicator link. "Why aren't you in place? The other squads are standing by, they're waiting for your signal, and you're not there!"

"Listen," Kawari hissed back. "The squad that was supposed to act as backup for us never came. We went through the first part of our mission, and ended up getting trapped in a street full of Hand agents. We can't get out."

There was startled silence on the other side of the line, before Kaze muttered, "What? Never showed?" He contemplated this for a second, before asking, "where are you?"

Kawari glanced up from his little makeshift shelter--or prison--and stared down the road at a smoldering street sign. "Kyofu Avenue."

"Right. Mako and his squad are in that direction. I'll send them over right away; they'll bail you out. We're aborting this mission."

"What?!" Kawari all but shrieked. "You can't _abort _it, this is important, it's--"

"It's risking too many lives, and something's wrong. I want to find out what's up with that squad that never showed. Blue Eyes, out." The link snapped off, and Kawari sighed.

Kaeru had noticed his hikari's conversation over the communicator, and had taken the time to return to the Ring and form a new temporary body for himself. Now looking as though he'd never suffered an injury, he asked, "What news?"

"Mako and his squad are coming to get us out. Then Kaze's dropping the mission."

"Figures." The spirit sighed and dropped his head back against the car. "Now we wait."

Twenty minutes, they spent in that hell, hoping against hope that death would not come before their aid. After twenty minutes, however, the sounds of gunfire and yelling changed; the yelling became more frantic, the gunfire louder, as if shots were being exchanged. And then...

Kawari's communicator earring snapped on again, and Mako's deep, usually cheerful voice yelled, "We're here, where are you guys?!"

Kawari could not keep the gratitude out of his voice. "Behind the two cars that have been flipped over. One's red, the other's green."

"Got it. I see'em. I'm coming over for you guys, hold on."

The link snapped off once more, and Kawari relayed this new information to Kaeru. The spirit nodded. "Good. Here, give me the gun; I can move around more than you can, and it'll be more use in my hands."

Kawari nodded dully, handing over the weapon and waiting. Only moments later, Mako slipped around the opening in their little prison, staring down at his two fellow Opposition agents.

"Okay, let's get going. Kawari, your leg's wounded, I can see that--don't think you should be walking on it. Here." As the hikari stood, wavering slightly, Mako swung one of Kawari's arms over his shoulder, holding the teen upright. The light looked somewhat annoyed at having to be helped, but nodded gratefully in any case. Even so, he slipped _Gin Hebi _out of it's sheath once more, aiming to fight off any enemies that were stupid enough to come too close to him and his rescuer.

And then they moved off. Battling their way through the midst of gunfire and screams, they made their way back towards Mako's squad. The men and women under the ocean-loving agent's command were covering for them, firing and taking out any Shadow of the Hand agents that looked interested in harming Kawari, Kaeru, or Mako. 

Eventually, the threesome met up with the rescue squad, moving into the depths of the fighting Opposition agents, where the two injured, white-haired fighters had less of a chance of coming to harm. Then, slowly, but in a practiced manner, the squad began backing off, moving backwards down the street and away from the Hand of the Shadow. The opposing Hand agents did not pursue them, having their own troubles, and so escape was fairly easy.

Nearly an hour later, the squad found themselves in a lightly populated area, and had stopped to take care of the wounded and to check in with Kaze and the rest of the Opposition. It was then that Kawari was given the professional medical treatment he needed, though he looked highly angry at the fuss one of the medical men was making over "just a few cuts."

Kaeru had other things on his mind. What had happened to the squad that was supposed to be covering them? They hadn't shown up, and it had nearly cost himself and his aibou their very lives. 

"You're wondering about it too, hmmm?" Kawari asked, frowning.

"Yes."

"I still don't understand...Mako says he tried contacting the leader of that squad, and he got no answer. Nothing."

"I wonder what happened to them. Were they killed?" A possibility, but Kaeru doubted it.

One of the women from the squad overheard their conversation and turned towards them. "Er...sirs...were you talking about the missing men?" she asked slowly, looking concerned.

"Yes," Kawari said, giving the woman a side glance. "Know anything about them?"

"Yes, yes I do!" she said suddenly, her voice sounding excited, but nervous. "I...I think I saw them!"

"Really?" Now both Kaeru and Kawari were listening.

"Yeah. I was on scouting duty, see, and...well, I saw a whole bunch of men walking along on one of the streets, and the next moment...they vanished!"

"Vanished?"

"Yeah...just like if they teleported or something." The woman looked apologetic. "Look, I know I sound crazy, but..."

"Oh no, on the contrary," Kaeru answered, smiling slightly, "you've been quite a help. Thank you."

Once the woman had departed, Kawari turned back to his yami. "Are you thinking what I am?"

"I'm not sure," Kaeru muttered, deep in thought. "I can say one thing, though."

"And that is?"

"Something is seriously wrong with the Balance, and our Realm."

***

"How on Earth could Rex's squadron have simply disappeared?" Kaze snapped to nobody as he paced around the briefing room irritably, waiting for the recently-rescued Kawari and Kaeru to show up with their report. "He couldn't have been killed, it was a virtually no-risk route he was following, and he's a more responsible squadron leader than to have gotten lost or sidetracked." His muttering was cut short as Kaeru entered the room, Kawari limping right behind him.

"Well?" Kaze demanded of them boredly. There most likely wasn't much he didn't already know to be gained from the report. "Tell me exactly what happened."

"That's irrelevant," Kaeru told him. "We've heard something much more important. We think we know where Rex's team disappeared to."

Kaze suddenly snapped to complete attentiveness. "What do you know?" he asked Kaeru more seriously. Kawari stepped forward to answer.

"We heard from a member of Mako's unit that she saw Rex and his buddies all vanish into thin air. The way she was going on sorta reminded me of that whole thing when we came through that portal into the True Realm because there was an imbalance or something, or whatever they called it."

This was definitely an unexpected development, Kaze though wryly, as his eyebrows went up. But of course, they knew nothing yet. This eyewitness clearly didn't know what she was seeing, and might have twisted the facts out of proportion. "I wonder if there's any way we can find out exactly what happened…" he mused to himself. 

Kaeru and Kawari just gave each other significant looks.

***

Meanwhile, in a Realm opposite to the one in which all of Kaze's numerous dendrites and neurotransmitters were currently working full speed, a boy called Yugi Motou was having a nightmare.

He supposed that the Shadowdreams, the prophetic visions of warning sent by the Shadow Realm, couldn't really be called nightmares, but they certainly weren't pleasant. He thought about asking his Yami, his dark side, about them, but he didn't want to get him worried for no reason. The last time he told Yami about a Shadowdream, it had cost him a night of sleep when he insisted upon guarding Yugi from any other disturbing images.

Yugi glanced over at his alarm clock. It read 11:00 P.M. _Maybe I'll watch TV for a little while or something,_ he thought to himself. _Try and get myself really sleepy so I won't dream. _It was a futile effort, he knew- the Shadowdreams would come no matter what he did to try and stop them- but the idea made him feel better anyway.

He walked down the hallway to the living room of the apartment above his grandfather's game shop where he lived, being careful not to disturb the said grandfather as he walked past his room. _Not much chance of that, though_, Yugi thought wryly as he listened to Grandpa Motou snore at what must be at least 1,000 decibels. Still giggling a bit inside his mind, he closed the living-room door, sat down on the couch, and flipped on the TV quietly.

"Tonight on the 11-o-clock news," the TV announcer blared, as Yugi prepared to change the channel, "is a string of mysterious murders that have suddenly struck cities and small towns all over Japan, the most recent victim being discovered in a park in Domino City." Yugi's hand froze halfway to the remote. A murder in Domino City? He kept listening.

"This is the latest in a string of several mysterious killings that have plagued the nation for the past month," the announcer continued, as the screen showed pictures of a park in Domino where Yugi often went after school to duel his friends and talk. "This normally-peaceful setting was the site of the freshest victim's body when it was discovered. The victim, a well-known duelist by the name of Rex Raptor, was discovered alone near one of the park's many picnic tables. The murder weapon nor the cause of death could not be identified at this time, as the body was unblemished. Doctors are currently performing an autopsy…" Yugi quickly turned the power off, feeling sick.

Rex Raptor was dead? True, he hadn't been a close friend, but he had been an acquaintance and a fellow duelist, one of his few fellow duelists who had never cheated during his dueling career. And he was dead? This was all too much.

He closed his eyes. It didn't seem real. It was too late at night to seem real. He would wake up in the morning and this would all be a bad dream…

***

"So you see, Kaiba-boy, Bakura's analysis was correct. My Millennium Item tells me that it was definitely a True Realm portal that sucked up Rex's little army. The question now is… what do we do about it?"

Kaze lowered his head. He hadn't doubted Kaeru, but as long as you had more than one magic user at your disposal, it didn't hurt to get a second opinion. There was less of a margin for error.

"Reconnissaince," he snapped. "We have to find out why that happened, and if necessary and possible, rescue the team. We can't spare a huge force at the moment, but I'm going to be more prepared for this journey into the True Realm than I was last time."

"Surely you don't mean to go yourself, Kaiba-boy?" Negative Pegasus asked.

"I most definitely do," Kaze responded. "If I want a mission to go right, I'd better be personally involved. Don't worry, I'm leaving the Opposition to the Bakuras while I'm gone, and I'm sure you know they're more than capable. Joey should probably go with me, though… and maybe two more top agents…"

Pegasus did his fake pout that made him so annoying to outsiders. "You can't go have all the fun without me, now, can you? Besides, if the Bakuras are staying here, you should have at least one magic-user with you, and Malik and Isis are busy."

Kaze thought over the suggestion briefly before nodding. "Alright. And one of our other American agents, I can spare them more easily. Possibly Solomon, though he's getting on in his years now…"

"What about Miss Valentine?"

"Mai? The American strategist? I thought she was on a mission?"

"Just completed, successfully. She has managed to install no fewer than 20 Opposition agents in the U.S. government, and got a few of the enemy's agents fired."

"Excellent." Kaze made a log of that information for future use. "Prepare standby agents to open a portal to the True Realm, Pegasus." Without further instruction or pleasantry, Kaze left the room. It was time for a last-minute chat with Kaeru and Kawari before he departed that evening. He left the American-owned Industrial Illusions warehouse where he had been meeting with Pegasus and approached the private helicoptor that would fly him back to the Opposition's base.

***

It wasn't some weird dream.

Rex Raptor was really dead, as the newspaper had the exact same story when Yugi woke up that morning. Somehow, it seemed far more real now, reading it in the paper during the light of day, than it had in his dream-state in the night before. _And then there was that Shadowdream…_ It had been warning him of yet another imbalance between the Realms, but…

\\Shadowdream?\\ Yami popped in suddenly. \\Why didn't you tell me about this?\\

\It wasn't a big deal, Yami,\ Yugi replied. \It was a short one, not quite so disturbing as some of the others have been.\

\\You should have woken me up,\ Yami protested grumpily. \\I could have protected you… with all this talk of murder, you don't need more things to worry about…\\

\You'd lose another night's sleep, though! I wanted at least ONE of us to be rested for school, so I don't end up failing that math test today…\

Yami was about to reply, but he was interrupted by what was clearly a knock on the door from downstairs.

"That must be Tea, come to walk to school with me," Yugi said aloud. He slumped down in his chair a bit. Somehow, the thought of school didn't seem appealing. He listened to his grandfather, who was downstairs opening up the game shop, open the door.

Suddenly, someone burst up the stairs in front of Yugi, and it most certainly wasn't Tea.

"Yugi, we need to talk!" a hoarse voice exclaimed, sounding very out-of-breath.

"Rex Raptor!" Yugi shouted, leaping up from his chair in surprise. "You're supposed to be dead!"

"I know! It's all over the news! But I clearly am not dead, am I? I had a good night of sleep last night, never went to the park late at night, and certainly wasn't murdered!"

Yugi was bemused. "Is… is someone playing a very bad joke or something?" he asked nervously.

"No," Rex replied darkly. "Because I saw the body this morning."

"What?!"

"I saw the body," Rex repeated, "and it's an exact replica of me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was me, and even weirder, THIS was found on the body." Rex pulled out his treasured Two-Headed King Rex card from his back pocket.

"That's your favorite card, right?" Yugi asked confusedly.

"No, it isn't," Rex replied. "Because my favorite card is right here." He pulled his dueling deck, encased in a card protector, from his backpack and removed his own three copies of the Two-Headed King Rex card. "And the other card isn't a fake, either," he added. "It's real. Which means…"

"Someone probably knows you really, really well," Yugi mused, as his mind turned over possibilities.

Yami had a suggestion. \\Or maybe this isn't the same Rex Raptor.\\

\What do you mean, Yam- OH!!!\

***

"Are you sure you'll be alright without us, Kaze?"

"Quite, Kaeru. Pegasus is going with me, and one magic-user has been enough in past situations. I really need a trusted agent like you to look over the Opposition while we're gone this time. There were too many negative consequences for our dissapearance last time, and well… if we ever are going to repair this world, I can't let that happen again."

"Don't worry, we got ya covered," Kawari replied with a grin. "Kaeru 'n I won't let anything stupid happen."

"I know you won't, or I wouldn't be leaving the Opposition to you," Kaze replied with the faintest trace of a grin. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe our mages have succeeded in opening the portal to Yugi Motou's residence in the True Realm. I'll see you all soon." In Kaze's trademark style, he walked out of the office without so much as a backward glance.

"You think we're gonna be okay without Kaze?" Kaeru wondered aloud.

Kawari's reply was swift and confident. "Don't worry. After all, what's the worst that can happen?"

***

End of Chapter One

CLOSING AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Well, that's a first chapter, anyway. I'll probably have about six or seven by the time this story's done. I realize there wasn't much action to start with here, but I wanted to get this story going and I had some basic setup work to do. I had to introduce the characters, get Kaze and his team into the True Realm, and I had to sort out the whole Rex's death mystery before I could actually begin the plot. Don't worry, it's coming next chapter!

A note about characters: I realize a lot of people hate Pegasus and Mai, but give them a chance! Don't worry, I plan to make both Negative Pegasus and Negative Mai likeable characters (Negative Mai, especially, is going to be a lot more intelligent and less preppy than her True Realm self). I wanted new N. Realm characters to develop, and they were the only obvious choices who were still alive in the N. Realm. In addition, I'm planning to introduce some OC's, including an OC antagonist, who will all be introduced next chapter.

In addition to all this, I'll say right now that I plan to have lots of duels in this fic. This chapter was the exception, as the "setup" chapter, but every chapter after this should have at least one duel. I love writing duels, and I wanted to invent some new cards for some of my OCs to have, so that's the main reason why. In addition, there will be some violence in future chapters, but nothing bloody or gorey (I can't stand that stuff). I _may_ have a character or two die, but if so they won't have an ultra-violent death, or else they'll die "offstage." I'm still not even sure about that part yet.

Chapter Two will be coming as soon as time allows, which may be a while, considering that I'm on vacation for the last week of summer, school starts next week and I have taken entirely too many extremely difficult classes (like the loon I am), but I will work on this sporadically. I has priority over all my other fics because there's a deadline. Anyway, seeya!


	2. Chapter Two: Seeking

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, here's Chapter Two. It was begun at midnight after my birthday, August 26. Everyone wish me a happy birthday! I got lots of really cool presents… but I'm sure nobody cares. In this chapter, the plot will actually begin! Ooo, how exciting! In addition, there are new places and OCs to be introduced, as well as the continuing development of the new N. Realm characters I've picked out. 

Also, Negative Pegasus and Negative Mai WILL be getting new names, like Kaze and Company. Oh, and if you're worried that Kawari and Kaeru will be left out- don't worry. They'll be sticking around in a subplot in the N. Realm, so you'll be seeing more of them.

One final note: I know that thing where Kaze's people could artificially create a Realm Portal was a bit of a plot hole, but for the sake of this fic let's just say that he's done lots of research into the subject and discovered a way for any magic user to open a Realm Portal. I had forgotten that all the previous portals had been accidental when I wrote that chapter- for some mysterious reason (most likely my terribly faulty memory) I thought Kaeru had created one at one point, but I was sadly mistaken. Sorry!

***

In a street in the True Realm, three figures were walking down the street toward the game shop. One, with a BIG head of blond hair, appeared to be attempting to prevent the other male in the party, who had spiky black hair and dice earrings, from getting too friendly with the only female traveller, who had long brown hair and was fairly short compared to the two boys. 

"I'm fine, Joey," the girl protested. Joey simply ignored her.

"Listen, punk, you stay away from my sister if ya know what's good for ya…"

The black-haired teenager just laughed. "Since when do I have to ask dogs permisson to talk to girls?" he whispered in Joey's ear so that Serenity wouldn't hear.

Joey's noises of anger and indigation were abruptly cut off when three interesting things happened at once: Tea appeared suddenly at the end of the street running down the block, the door of the game shop the party was approaching opened to reveal Yugi and Rex Raptor, who were apparently walking to school, and a large silver disk, floating vertically in midair, appeared out of nowhere across the street.

Duke Devlin's attention was first drawn to Yugi and Rex.

"Rex?" he intoned bemusedly. "Rex Raptor? I heard on the news that you were killed!"

"Yeah, well I came back to life, apparently," Rex snapped impatiently. "Shit, this is gonna be hell to explain to everyone…"

Yugi quickly jumped in before the swearing got out of hand. "Rex wasn't actually killed, you see," he explained with incredible patience. "The news was mistaken…"

Joey, meanwhile, had been staring at the silver disk across the street. "Hey, Yuge, isn't that one of those Realm Portal thingies?" he asked suddenly.

No sooner had he said this than the portal disappeared and in it's place appeared four frazzled-looking Negative Realm residents.

"Hey, Saguru!" Joey shouted as he registered the identity of the frontmost new arrival, barely even noticing the fact that two of his greatest enemies were also in the group. He ran over to greet his opposite.

By this point, Tea had reached the growing crowd, running so fast that she was oblivious to all else going on. "Yugi!" she puffed, when she reached him. "I just heard on the news, Rex Raptor was murdered, and-" she broke off abruptly as she lifted her eyes to see Rex standing in front of her. Then, she turned her head to the group coming across the street, which included not only Pegasus but two Joeys, and her mouth dropped open in shock.

Yugi smiled. "Something tells me this is going to take a little explaining."

\\You got that right,\\ his Yami replied irritably from his Soul Room.

***

Kaeru, in control of his aibou's body, strode across the control room of the Opposition impatiently. Now, he knew how Kaze felt most of the time.

"How's the current operation going?" he asked the man at the control panel, for lack of anything better to do. He felt that he had none of Kaze's cool authority and charisma, and all of his impatience.

"Not good, sir," the man replied. "A quarter of Mako's unit was wiped out by Hand of the Shadow agents, and Weevil's unit isn't doing much better. We thought recapturing this warehouse would be a good strategic move, but…"

Kaeru shook his head sadly and walked off. Running an Opposition was harder than he had thought it would be. He approached the communications room and stopped a woman who was leaving with papers in her hand. "Any news from abroad?" he asked her.

"Well, the American operations are going well," the woman replied. "Mai's secret agents are doing their job. But our European efforts have been failures for the most part. The Hand's got too many of their own people there already, and almost half of our installed people have been exposed."

Kaeru bit the inside of his lip. "Any chance of recovering the major cities?" He ran over the possibilities in his mind. He knew Kaze had formed a plan to take over the British navy before he left and send it to Japan, but nothing else about it.

"London and Munich are lost, according to what's in front of me," the woman replied. "Paris… well, we don't have any agents in the government, but as far as we know neither does the Hand, so that's a start. Vienna, Rome, and Venice are pretty much ours, but they aren't powerful enough on their own to aid our cause here. The Vatican did release a statement condemning the Hand of the Shadow, but…"

"…fat lot of good that'll do in Japan," Kaeru finished. "Well, that's enough bad news for one day. Maybe they'll have more luck if we can get America to go to open war against the Hand…" His thoughts trailed as he walked off down the hallway, realizing the near-impossibility of that plan.

The Opposition was not in good shape.

***

Ten people sat on the various couches, cushions, and chairs occupying Yugi Motou's living room, listening to Yugi and Rex explain their knowledge of the past evening's events. Duke Devlin had attempted to sit next to Serenity, but Joey quickly took a seat between them. Kaze listened thoughtfully to Yugi's report of Yami's theory that it had in fact been the Negative Rex who was killed, further supported by Kaze's release of the knowledge that Negative Rex had disappeared while on a mission by being drawn through a Realm Portal.

"So lemme get this straight," Saguru said when the story was finished. "Everyone in your world thinks the True Rex was murdered, but it was actually our Rex. His team is probably lost and scattered, lying low without a leader. And the body was found _unblemished?"_

"Straight out of the newscaster's mouth," Yugi replied. "If the Realms are having an imbalance… that sounds a lot like magic is involved in these murders. The murder could be connected to the imbalance…"

Kaze had been thinking hard also. "Pegasus," he said then. "If you could get into physical contact with the body of Negative Rex, could you find out what killed him?"

"That and more, Kaiba-boy," Negative Pegasus replied. "You see, when someone kills someone with magic, they leave a taint of themselves on the body. If I could contact it, I could find out not only who killed him, but what type of magic they used, and, most importantly-" he paused, in a very Pegasus-like way, for dramatic effect, "I could find out where they are now."

"That would be awesome!" True Joey exclaimed. "We could track that creep down and find out what he's killin' all these people for!"

"Wait a minute," responded Duke Devlin. "If somebody spots Maxamillion Pegasus running around the local morgue, it's not gonna be kept quiet."

Pegasus grinned again. "Disguising myself will be simple, with the help of my Millennium Eye!" The golden object flashed in his empty socket. Yugi shivered involuntarily, remembering several times when True Pegasus had finished sentences in the exact same way, and with dire results.

"Another thing," Negative Mai began, speaking for the first time. "Before we begin planning this operation, if Kaze plans to have us remain and help…" She waited for her leader's nod of affirmative before continuing. "Pegasus and I should pick new names, like Saguru and Kaze did when they came over last time, so that we can tell ourselves apart from our True counterparts."

"Indeed," Pegasus replied. "For my name, I believe I shall choose… Miyaburu. It has a good sound to it, you see."

"And I shall be Aikan," Mai decided. "It will do very nicely. Now, onto planning."

"If we're gonna have to sneak into the morgue, that's my department," Saguru began.

"Nah," Duke Devlin replied. "I've got a better idea."

***

She was running.

Running away from the crazy man who had chased her, who had burned down her precious library. Running away from the reality of disaster.

Her entire life had been kept in those wooden halls of knowledge. She had devoted herself completely to the study of the past, and one deranged vandal was all it took to erase both her own past and her future.

She clutched the one possession still remaining to her, the ancient artifact that had been the object of most of her years of research. _If necessary_, she thought to herself, _I can use it._

She thought she had shaken off pursuit, but she couldn't be sure. After the strange man had set fire to her library and come chasing after her with a knife, she hadn't thought about much except running and continuing to run for about fifteen minutes, but occasional glances behind her had yielded the pursuer at first, but later, nothing.

And she was exhausted.

She stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She was not out of shape, but now that the adrenaline had worn off her body was paying the price for her exertion. She would have to sit down and rest for a few minutes. _It would not do,_ she reasoned, _to be found by that crazy loon while I'm too out of breath to do anything about it._ So, she sat against the stone wall of the alley she had flown into and let her wits and lungs catch up with the rest of her.

She did not want to consider her predicament. It was too painful, and the memory of the burning knowledge, her burning past, too fresh in her mind for her to reexamine it as of yet. Instead, she looked at her surroundings. Stone walls, on every side, but not the fancy marble and slate used to build the government buildings in the town center. This was the rough, quarry stone used to build the apartments in the poorest section of the city, where those who could not pay their taxes to the king were forced to live. She had no idea where she was.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps, running, sounded from the far end of the ally. She jumped up, only to come face-to-face with a little boy. She sighed in relief and chided herself mentally for being so jumpy. She had probably shaken off pursuit long ago.

"Gee ma'am, should you be out here all the way in the middle of nowhere?" the boy asked "You could get hurt in a part of town like this."

_The boy probably noticed my fine clothes_, she reasoned. "I'm fine, just run along home, little boy," she smiled down at him. No use troubling him with her worries, many as they were.

But then, before her eyes, the little boy was suddenly not so little anymore. He spoke in a much deeper voice, but still slightly high for the young man of 20 or so that he was. "And appearances can be deceiving, you see."

She jumped about a foot in the air, and looked around wildly for an escape path, but she was cornered. Cornered by the man who had burned down her library and came after her with murder on his mind. "What do you want of me?" she asked him, with an odd mixture of defiance and resignation to death in her voice.

"Well, now that you've conveniently led us out here in the middle of nowhere," he began with a grin, "all I want is that most interesting device in your hand."

_He knows about the Rod of 1,000 Minds! "_This old walking stick? Whatever would you want this for?"

"You know as well as I that it is no walking stick, Ichiko."

"How do you know my name? Have you been stalking me?"

"Don't try to distract me!" the man barked. "I am below your petty, villainous tricks!"

Ichiko was shocked. "Petty, villainous tricks?" she asked, more baffled than scared for an instant.

But the young man grinned. "If you will not give it to me willingly, I will duel you for it."

***

Duke Devlin walked down the hallway at Domino Hospital, gazing at the signs on the walls. With his easy charm and persuasion skills, it had been simple to convince the female receptionist to let him through to the back room. Now, he just had to hope that idiot Wheeler and the weird kid who looked like him were in their places… and the Pegasus lookalike, of course, but he was fairly sure he could trust him to pull this off without a hitch.

He checked his watch. Wheeler and his hot kid sister were set to move in two minutes. He just had to make sure he found the right place in time.

Turning a corner, Duke continued to read every sign he passed. Some advertised that their interiors contained labs, beds, exam rooms, or offices. None of those interested him. Finally, at the end of a particularly dingy corridor, Duke spotted the sign he was seeking. "MORGUE" read the large black letters on the wooden plate above the doorknob. He smiled to himself, then looked around. He needed somewhere to hide and wait. Spotting a broom closet a few doors down, he slipped inside and glanced again at his watch.

_Only ten seconds before Serenity makes her move,_ he thought. 

He began a whispered countdown. "Five, four, three, two…"

An ear-piercing shriek suddenly ripped down the corridor. Even through several hallways and the broom closet door, it was still quite audible to Duke. He could also hear Joey's shouts for help. _Damn_, he thought, _I sure would have liked to have been the one out there alone with Serenity._ But he couldn't have trusted the most crucial part of the operation to Wheeler, no matter how much trust Yugi had in him.

A scuffle of feet outside in the hallway signified the result Duke expected. The doctors, reacting on their doctorly instincts, were responding to the emergency call. And they would probably be careless in their rush to see who had screamed so suddenly. Devlin smiled to himself, thinking how perfectly _his _brilliant plan was coming together. _Not even Kaze or Miyaburu could think of anything better_, Devlin complimented himself. He may not have known either of them personally, but he knew both their counterparts and reasoned that they would probably have near-equal intelligence.

The scuffle had died down by now, and Duke cautiously opened the door to see who was outside. As he expected, the corridor was abandoned and every door was ajar. He opened the door to the morgue and looked inside.

The body he assumed to be the Negative Realm Rex Raptor was lying under a white sheet on an operating table. The autopsy hadn't begun yet, Devlin realized. The thought relieved him considerably. The window was also closed and locked, as he knew it would be, but a glance through it revealed that Kaze, Saguru, Tristan, and the "real" Rex Raptor were all in their positions in the alley below, forming a human tower up to the window so Miyaburu, who was standing on Rex's shoulders could climb through. Normally, a spectacle like this would have raised some questions from passerby on the street, but fortunately the morgue window faced an alley between the hospital and the adjacent building, so there was no one else in sight.

Duke unlocked the window from the inside and opened it, helping Rex to haul the American CEO through the opening.

"Are you okay?" Duke asked Miyaburu, who was straightening himself and brushing off his clothes.

"Fine," Miyaburu grinned. "Just take me to the body." His grin became wider, as both of them realized how disgusting this sentence would sound if taken out of context.

Devlin indicated the sheet-covered Rex and prepared to turn away (even if the autopsy hadn't begun, he would rather not have to look at a day-old corpse preserved in formaldehyde, or whatever they put those bodies in.

Miyaburu, however, didn't remove the sheet. He just stuck his hand under the cloth and touched what was, apparently, Rex's face. Devlin was still slightly queasy.

The golden Millennium Eye (or the Negative version of such) glowed in Pegasus's socket, and his Millennium Magic began to work. Duke gazed in awe at the pale green light that enveloped both Miyaburu and the white sheet, and was slightly afraid that the glow might attract someone's attention even through the walls. Judging from Rex's excited shouting coming through the still-open window, it could probably be seen out in the alley, anyway.

But Duke was impatient. It had been ten seconds already, what more did he need to find out? "What's going on, Peg- I mean, Miyaburu?" he asked. "Where'd the killer go?"

"Don't distract me!" Miyaburu snapped. The glow became still brighter, and Miyaburu looked, if anything, confused.

By this time, the combination of Miyaburu's lack of concentration and the confused look on his face had annoyed Devlin so much that he decided to go yell at Rex out the window, who was still shouting excitedly down to the lower tiers of the human ladder. But before he could reach the window, the green light faded once again. Devlin spun around to discover, to his disappointment, that the confued look on Miyaburu's face had not.

"Well?" Duke Devlin asked impatiently.

Miyaburu stared at him for a minute, then broke once more into his trademark grin. "We need to talk to the others."

That was all he would say for the moment.

***

"Duel you?" Ichiko asked incredulously. "Why should I duel you?"

"Well, I can think of several good reasons," the man said. "Because you must duel me at some point, and because I have proven myself worthy of dueling you, but, most importantly, this." He drew a glowing, dark purple longsword from a scabbard at his belt.

Ichiko forgot her fright for the moment. "What is that thing?"

The man replied with a smile. "It has had many names," he said grandly, "but its true name is the Saga Blade. It records the history of the world. In fact, some say that it was the maker of the world's history. The Eight Legends which define our past, were the creations of this weapon… and the Ninth prophecied to come will be its work as well."

Despite her terror, despite this man's obvious insanity, the historian in her was awakened. "The Saga Blade? I've never heard of such a thing."

"You've heard of the Eight Legends, obviously?" the man ascertained.

"Of course, every historian knows of them," she replied "Eight catastrophic events that affected all of the Realms and their Negative counterparts. They are used as turning points in historical research and in putting dates and time frames on other events."

"Yes, yes, all very scholarly," the man replied "The point is, they were all caused when a true hero wielded the Saga Blade in the name of good. Think what an amazing new life you could build with a new ancient weapon to research! I will wager it on a duel with you if you will agree to part with your Rod of 1,000 Minds if you lose."

_I should be afraid,_ Ichiko thought to herself. _I should be terrified of this insane guy with a freaky glowing sword and I should be running for my life. But for some reason… I'm not_. It was if a similar insanity had overtaken her, as though he was contagious. "Very well," Ichiko replied, that rare competitive glint in her eye that appeared whenever she was called to a competition. Leave her shyness, her submissiveness, and her fear behind. This was a fight. "I accept your challenge. Do you have a duel disk with you?"

He laughed at that. "Now, would I have challenged you if I didn't have a duel disk with me?" Both fighters removed their pocket duel disks, a common item all over the world now, since Horatio Corporation had come out with them. Now, duelists could have complete holographic duels anywhere they wanted.

Ichiko slipped her prized dueling deck into the slot, and moved forward to allow her duel disk's laser scanner to register the presence of another duel disk. 

"We play with 4000 Life Points," the strange man shouted at her, across the hologram of a dueling field that had appeared.

"Fine," Ichiko replied, and the number 4000 registered on each duel disk. "You take the first move."

The man grinned again, and sheathed the Saga Blade before drawing seven cards. "Villains always say that." Before Ichiko could puzzle out his meaning, he had made his move. "I'll play one card face down, and one monster in facedown defense mode," the man said, removing the named cards from his hand and placing them on the field. Two facedown cards appeared, one horizontal in the first row, and one vertical in the back row. "Your move!"

Ichiko drew seven cards. _Hmm, I drew my most powerful card on the first draw, _she thought. _But I need the ritual magic card to summon it…_ "I'll also play one card face down," Ichiko decided. She scanned her hand one more time. "And I'll summon Neo the Magic Swordsman (1700/1000) in Attack Mode!" The blond-haired spellcaster appeared on her side of the field, swinging his broadsword and gazing with cool eyes at the opposing cards. "I won't attack this turn," Ichiko decided. Too risky.

"Excellent," the man replied. "You already seem like a talented duelist. You might even put up a good fight." He grinned again as he drew his card. "I will leave my first monster facedown," he announced. "First I'll play the magic card Defective Grenade, which allows me to search my deck for any three cards except monsters with a higher level than 6 and discard them to my Graveyard." Ichiko watched him play this strange move curiously, gazing distractedly at the hologram of a grenade being tossed but blowing up on the three cards the man had picked, and made sure the duel disk automatically shuffled the deck afterward. 

He continued. "And then I will summon the mighty Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in Attack Mode!" The mighty warrior appeared, swinging a sword twice this size of the spellcaster's. "Vorse Raider, attack Neo the Magic Swordsman!"

"Reveal trap card!" Ichiko quickly shouted before her spellcaster was destroyed. "Magic Arm-Shield! It allows me to place your facedown monster in the way of Vorse Raider's attack!" The red-gloved arm on a spring grabbed the facedown card and held it in front of Vorse Raider's oncoming sword. The facedown card was revealed for a split second as a crouching female spellcaster before she was destroyed.

"Ha!" shouted the man. "I'm a better duelist than you give me credit for! You destroyed my Magician of Faith, which allows me to return a magic card from the graveyard to my hand!"

_So that's why he played that weird Defective Grenade card_, Ichiko thought.

"I choose the magic card called "The First Legend." It represents the First Legend of history, which was the Creation of the Continents. The First Hero took the Saga Blade in his hand and struck the ocean's surface, and the ripples echoed through every realm, and the land rose out of the sea!"

"How the hell did he stand if there were no continents and no trees to build a boat from?"

"He was a hero, what more explanation do you want?" the young man asked 

impatiently. "Anyway, this magic card prevents any field magic cards from being played for the rest of the duel, and it also removes itself from play instead of going to the Graveyard."

_Hmm_, thought Ichiko, beginning the preemptive strategic thinking that had won her more than a few duels. _If he has a card based on the First Legend, he probably has other similar cards. I'd better watch out. Perhaps his deck is entirely based around the cards? Well then, blocking all magic could be a counterstrategy._

"It's my turn, weirdo," Ichiko announced as she drew her card. "Lucky for you, my deck doesn't depend on Field Magic cards, so that First Legend did effectively nothing."

"That's what you think, I suppose," responded the man nonchalantly.

_Definitely a chain of magic,_ Ichiko reasoned. "I'll sacrifice Neo the Magic Swordsman in order to summon the Like-Minded Psychic Twins (2300/800), and I'll use them to attack your Vorse Raider!"

Not even a frown crossed the man's face as the two female spellcasters, one with jet black hair and a pure white dress, and another with a jet-black dress and pure white hair, concentrated hard and caused his monster shattered into thousands of little pieces and 500 life points were subtracted from his duel disk. "No matter," he told her arrogantly. "I didn't need that throwaway monster anyhow."

This guy was starting to get on Ichiko's nerves, but she didn't show it. She was 500 Life Points up, she could beat this guy!

"Okay, for my turn I'll start off by summoning the Giant Solder of Stone (1300/2000) in Attack Mode," he announced. Ichiko was puzzled.

_Giant Solder of Stone is most definitely a defensive stall monster, _she thought. _But he knows I have a Level 6 monster out that can beat it quickly, so why'd he bother summoning it in Attack Mode?_

The guy seemed to take pleasure in Ichiko's puzzled look. "Let me introduce you to my Second Legend magic card," he told her. "The Second Legend was when the land flooded with lava and created mountains, valleys, and other features of the land."

"I know all this history." Ichiko was getting impatient. "Finish your turn!"

The man just smiled. "The stories say that in the Second Legend, a wicked sorcerer stole a powerful sword and melted it into raw iron to craft himself a new magic shield that would make him invincible. But the hero destined to wield the Saga Blade, for that sword it was, came to him and lifted his hand, and the shield jumped from the sorcerer's hand to his, and turned instantly into a blade again, and with it, he slew the sorcerer in one fell move. When the sorcerer died, his blood stained the Earth and spread to all the Realms, and became lava, and crafted the geography of every world."

"You're a good storyteller, that's for sure," Ichiko taunted. "But can you match your stories with any sort of power? What sort of lava made of sorcerer's blood are you going to create? I must tell you, my version of the Second Legend involves fewer wicked sorcerers and more geology, but what have you."

"You mock me," the man shouted angrily. "But you won't as soon as I play the card! In honor of the sorcerer's shield that became a blade, the Second Legend card removes itself from play and adds the defense value of every monster to its attack value! Therefore, my Giant Soldier of Stone now has 3300 Attack to your pitiful Like-Minded Psychic Twins, who have only 3100 between them both!"

"Damnit!" shouted Ichiko as one of her more powerful monsters was destroyed by such a weakling as Giant Soldier of Stone. She was still ahead by 300 Life Points, but he now had a monster more powerful than the Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the field, wheras she had nothing.

_And there were six legends still to go_, she thought._ What other tricks does this storytelling loon have up his sleeve?_

***

"Look, Yami, there's no way around it. We're the only truly trustable agents left in the Opposition with Kaze and Saguru gone. We've got to do this mission ourselves."

Kaeru sighed. Kawari was being very difficult about this particular aspect of leadership. "Aibou, we're in charge of the whole Opposition now! If we die, everything falls apart!"

"Everything's falling apart anyway, and you know it. Kaze always went on missions himself!"

"Kaze had seconds he could trust to take over, or rescue him if something went wrong." Kaeru sighed again. He seemed to be doing that all too much lately.

"Yami, Kaze didn't promote us to second to sit around on our asses and ask the communications people what the weather in America is. Honestly, how much good are we doing here? We don't _need _another ass-sitter right now. We need agents. Good agents, to do complicated missions. And that's us. Otherwise, we can just kiss Kaze's precious Operation goodbye, and show him the rubble when he gets home."

Kaeru was caving, but he had to try at least one more tack. "Remember what happened on our last mission, Kawari? I can't risk losing you again."

"We'll all be lost if we fail now."

_Okay, time to stop fighting. _Kawari had a point, and loath as he was to risk his life again, he could always take control of his aibou's body if things got to hairy. And he did have his promise to Kaze to consider.

"Very well," Kaeru relented. "Tomorrow, we'll lead Operation #7741- the infiltration of the Hand of Shadow headquarters."

***

Sitting around the table at Yugi's house, the "Operation Rex Raptor Death Info" team was gathered for Miyaburu's debrief.

Duke Devlin was still slightly resentful that Miyaburu, the Negative form of his former idol, had refused to give him any information ahead of time when it had been all his doing that they even had the information in the first place. However, he was presently too curious to really care much about making a stink over it.

The others were all waiting with bated breath to hear what news, good or bad, the wielder of the Millennium Eye had divulged from Negative Rex's corpse. And they were soon rewarded.

"Well, we have some interesting results," Miyaburu began, his voice losing its usual humorous overtones as he began to talk serious business.

"The murderer of Rex Raptor is definitely a magic-user, and more than that, he's a magic-user who can travel between Realms easily."

"How do we know this?" Kaze demanded.

"Simple, Kaiba-boy," Miyaburu told him. "He's no longer in this Realm, so he must be an adept Realm-traveller."

"So he's in the Negative Realm?" Saguru asked. "We have to return immediately, if that's the case-"

"He's left this Realm, but he's not in the Negative Realm either."

"Huh?" Yugi asked. "That makes no sense. Unless… is he caught between the two Realms, like I was once?"

It was Aikan who figured out what Miyaburu was talking about. "I know a little about the Realms Theory in our Negative Realm, which we're pretty much assuming is true, right? It says there are lots of True Realms, totally different from each other, each with its own corresponding Negative Realm. So… I think what Miyaburu is trying to say is that our killer has left this Realm series entirely.

"Right you are, Mai-girl," Miyaburu responded. "In fact, I can take us to the Realm where he is right now." He glanced at the large crowd around the table. "But I can't take all of us."

Kaze quickly sized up those under his command. "If we're going to be away for any extended period of time, Saguru should probably return to the Negative Realm. Inter-Realm crisis or not, we've still got the Opposition to worry about."

Saguru looked extremely disappointed at this news. "Okay, I'll head back to give the Bakuras some a little helpin' hand," he started, "but only on one condition. My True Self needs to go along with youse guys. So I know there's at least one Joey-style guy along with youse all."

Yugi nodded. "Joey will go, and so will I. I haven't let my Yami out yet, out of respect for our Negative friends, but Pegasus can't be the only magic user coming along."

"I, of course, will join you," Kaze added, "and Aikan as well, so we have enough Negative representatives."

"Yes, Blue-Eyes," Aikan agreed.

Duke Devlin was now severly pissed off. "I thought up that whole plan, played the most important part in it, and now it's all 'Sorry Duke, seeya when we get back?' What's up with that? I'm coming too, like it or not!"

"And that, I think, should be our limit," Pegasus jumped in quickly. "Six people I can manage, but more than that and I might have trouble. And I'll want leftover energy in case things escalate to a Shadow Game."

\\Tell Pegasus that if he can get us there, I'll fight the Shadow Games.\\

Yugi grinned and repeated his Yami's attempt to sound powerful to the group. Miyaburu laughed, but agreed that he'd rather not risk the greater portion of his functioning mind in order to transport six people across a Realm _and _fight a Shadow Game.

"One more thing," Tea wanted to know. "What about school? We're already four hours late!"

Joey and Saguru looked at Tea, and then looked at each other, and cracked up.

***

"I place one monster face down on the field, and I'll also play two other cards face down. Then, I'll end my turn." The super-powered Giant Soldier of Stone had Ichiko on the defensive game for the time being.

"Hiding behind facedowns never won any duels," the young man chided. "As I'll prove to you now when I summon the Swordsman of Delstar (1400/300) in Attack Mode!" The hologram that appeared was of a toy-looking soldier with an oversized sword. "He may not look powerful, but that sword packs a wallop! Attack her facedown card, Swordsman of Delstar!" Ichiko's Fairywitch was revealed briefly before it shattered into oblivion.

Ichiko drew her next card. _Aha! The Ritual Magic card I need to summon my most powerful monster! But I need to get some monsters to sacrifice on the field first… and this card should do the job! Maybe I should pretend to go on the defensive, so he'll think I don't have a clue what to do and become overconfident. _"Uh… I guess… I'll just put this in Defense Mode, and play a third card facedown in my magic/trap area."

"Hmm, running away from the might of my Swordsman of Delstar, are we?" the man cackled. "Well, wait until you see my next move! I summon his partner, the Swordsman of Lanstar (500/1200), in Defense Mode!"

__

What a weak monster. He must have something in mind. Two partner monsters on the field together often have some special bonus I don't know about.

"If your thinking my two swordsmen can help each other out, you're right! Alone, they aren't very powerful, but together, they become one of my more powerful monsters! I'll play one trap card facedown, and then say hello to Polymerization!"

_Uh, oh. _"Activate trap card Magic Jammer! I discard this Stop Defense card from my hand to stop your Polymerization!"

He grinned. "You really must think me a mediocre duelist, don't you? I'll use my own trap card Seven Tools of the Bandit to sacrifice 1000 Life Points to stop your Magic Jammer! And Polymerization will go through!"

"Damnit!" _And now what's he gonna do?_

"Swordsman of Lanstar and Swordsman of Delstar, combine as one, to become the all-powerful Stellaris, Guardian of the Weak (2400/1500)! Now, Stellaris, attack her facedown card!"

"Activate trap card Magic Weather Curtain! All attacks from Earth- and Fire-attribute monsters are prevented, which includes your Guardian of the Weak!"

"And now, watch as my next trick is unfolded. The Third Legend, as you know, was a piercing split, as each Realm split into two- an opposing Negative and True realm. And now, I'll play the card that represents this Third Legend! It reverses the elemental attribution of all cards on the field, so my Stellaris has changed from being an Earth-attribute monster to its opposite, a Wind-attribute monster. Now, he can complete his attack!"

_Every time I've just finished recovering from his last Legend card, he plays a new one. At least he didn't have an accompanying story this time. _The Mystical Elf card she had played (now a Shadow-attribute monster, for the record), couldn't even last one turn.

"And now, my Giant Soldier of Stone will attack your Life Points directly! You are left with only 200 points in spare change."

The mighty rock monster struck Ichiko over the head, causing her to scream as she was knocked back several feet against the wall of the alley. Not even bothering to get up, she began to comprehend the hopeless mess she was in. _Should I even bother to continue? With no monsters to sacrifice, I can't summon my Ritual Monster even with the Ritual Magic card I need. I have no magic cards that can help me, and my face-down Reverse Trap can't do me any good either. Anything else I play will be destroyed by Stellaria next turn, and then Giant Soldier will just finish off my Life Points!_

She began to cry, silent tears of despair. When this man finished her off, he would have succeeded in destroying the last bit of her life that remained to her. He would have taken not only her library, her Rod, but her spirit as well. There was no hope for the future.

"Hurry up and make your last move, if you even have one," the young man taunted. "I must continue my ques- GLAAGLH!" He suddenly emitted a choked scream. Ichiko looked up curiously to see what had happened.

What she saw astonished her. Standing behind the mysterious man was another man, possibly a few years older than she was, with his left hand gripping him tightly around the back and his right hand holding a staff mounted with several blades to her tormentor's throat.

"I've caught up with you at last, you bastard!" the new arrival shouted in rage. "It seems my father and I weren't victim enough, was it? You have to go attacking innocent women as well! I've had enough of your damn cruelty! And unless you have a very, very good reason for all of this-" he pressed the largest blade on his staff into the man's throat at these words- "I am going to kill you."

Amazingly, the man laughed. He actually laughed. _He's insane for sure, _Ichiko thought, as she studied the new man carefully. Was he friend or foe?

"I am the savior of all the Realms, that is my reason," the man told his captor. "And while I doubt it will be sufficient reason for you to release me, I hardly find any other evidence necessary." He turned to Ichiko, grimacing as his neck scraped the blade pressed against it. "We may have left our duel unfinished for now," he told her. "But we'll have our rematch- eventually. Consider this your lucky break. For now, I have business elsewhere!"

The new arrival roared again and gathered leverage with his blade arm to strike a killing blow… only to slash at empty air. With an aura of bright red light, the mysterious man had vanished, taking his dueling deck- and, Ichiko noticed to her dissapointment, the Saga Blade- with him.

There was nothing to do now but talk to the man who had saved her the loss of her most prized possession. But there was only one question that would come to mind. "Who are you?"

The man's reply was immediate. "I am Kouten the Stormborn, and I seek revenge on that man- the man who has murdered my father."

***

***

And that's Chapter 2!

Okay, just a few notes for the end of the chapter. First, I have to please, please have some comments on the duel for this chapter. It wasn't even a full duel because it wasn't completed, but was it well-written, at least? There's more of them to come, for sure, but if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to include them. I think most of the cards will be new, but some will be old friends. The new cards will always come with a description of their holographic image, by the way. The only other note is an apology for the slowness of the plot elsewhere. I think the hospital scene was pretty good, but otherwise it was just a bunch of talking, and I'm sorry for that. The action will pick up a lot soon, don't worry! In addition, Kaeru and Kawari will have a few action scenes next chapter, so Bakura fans should have fun there. And if anyone was disappointed because their favorite character wasn't included in the "travelling to the next Realm" team, sorry. I picked either characters I liked or characters High Crystal Guardian hasn't used a whole lot yet. Anyway, until Chapter 3 (and I have the goal of a chapter every two weeks, so look forward to it then), I'll say sayonara!


	3. Chapter Three: Revelations

****

CHAPTER THREE!

Author's Notes: Bad news… my computer got a virus. Yes, a really bad virus- the Blaster worm, to be precise (shame on myself for not downloading the patch soon enough… I'm probably the only one in my family who even knew what the Blaster worm was, so you can't blame the rest of them). Anyway, the upshot is that we had to reset the hard drive, and all my notes for upcoming chapters for this fic were obliterated. Yes, I've lost three weeks of time, yes, it's taken me forever to get back to writing this. BUT I WILL NOT ABANDON THE FIC! triumphantly dramatic fanfare plays So, I should re-write my notes within the next week or two, but I'm writing Chapter Three off of nothing (except for re-reading #1 and 2 on fanfiction . net). Once again, apologies, curse Microsoft, curse the Blaster worm, curse me, and I WILL FINISH. I may end up having to ask for an extension, though, but I'm going to try to hurry up.

AND WITHOUT FURTHER ADO… triumphantly expectant fanfare plays

ON WITH CHAPTER THREE!

***

__

Whoa, Realm travel is pretty psychedelic.

This was Joey Wheeler's initial and only reaction to the unique sensation of being flung through a break in the space-time continuums by the power of an ancient magical artifact.

It didn't take very long. One minute, he was standing, touching Yugi's shoulder, who in turn had direct-indirect contact with Kaze, Aikan, Miyaburu and Duke Devlin. Miyaburu's eye began to glow an odd shade of pale green, and then the room started melting around them.

There was really no other way to describe it. The colors began to slowly blur, dripping downward like sloppily-applied wet paint on a wall, until shapes were no longer recognizable. Then, various lines, pixels of color, and odd, organic shapes began to drip from the top to the bottom of Joey's field of vision, faster and faster, until-

WHUMP.

There was not an audible noise, but the mental impact of "landing" was clearly felt. The approriate set of images had snapped into place, though Joey was still a bit too dizzy for a close examination of his surroundings.

Around him, the other five team members were clearly in various states of mental dissaray, and Pegasus was actually showing slight signs of physical exhaustion. He recovered fairly quickly, however, and lifted his gaze to his companions, waiting for them to get their bearings.

Kaze was the first to snap back to earth and speak. "Where are we, Peg- I mean, Miyaburu?"

Miyaburu grinned at the slip, somewhat struck by the irony that Kaze was the first to make it. "The Second Realm, of course. What did you expect, an address? I've never been here before, so I don't know any more than you do. I just used the same coordinates that our killer did, so we have a place to start from."

Kaze looked briefly annoyed, but composed himself quickly. "I suppose that's all we can ask for." He sized up his team. Yugi was looking nervously around at the others in the group, Joey had a glazed, lost look on his face, Duke Devlin was staring at him hard, Aikan was also staring, but with a more questioning air, and Miyaburu was… Miyaburu.

He sighed. "Okay, look guys. We should try to find out as much about this world as we can before we go prancing off into something we know nothing about. We should also try to stay hidden, either literally or by blending in somehow. Like Miyaburu says, this is new territory for all of us, and we must stay alert and not call attention to ourselves."

_Hmph. As much attention as this group could not call, anyway,_ he thought as he watched Devlin "accidentally" almost knock Joey over as he walked by.

***

"This is the spot where my library once stood. He burned it down yesterday, chased me across half the town, forced me to duel him, of all things, and was creaming me. He only left when you showed up."

Ichiko's logical self still wasn't completely sure if this guy, Kouten, was a friend or not, but she so desperately needed an ally… someone, _anyone_, who would give her support. She quite literally had nothing else left in her life besides the immediate here and now, besides what little support she could find around her in each passing second. Thinking about the future was definitely something she didn't want to, or couldn't, do.

Kouten was studying the rubble of the destroyed building. Stone foundations. Charred paper everywhere. Dust. Ash. Heat; even now, so long after the last flames had gone out.

For the first time since they'd arrived at ground zero, Kouten spoke to her. "What was burned here?"

She realized he meant more than just the physical. "My life's work," she responded simply. "A lifetime of research, consisting this object." She tapped the Rod of 1,000 Minds hanging at her belt. In response to Kouten's questioning gaze, she replied, "It's a family heirloom," and left it at that.

The bearded young man didn't look quite satisfied, but nodded anyway. "The man who attacked you," he began, changing the subject, "I know who he was. His name is Shinwaa Metsubou, and as I have told you he murdered my father, and I am seeking revenge on him. That much should be obvious."

Ichiko simply nodded, waiting to see if he would continue. He did. "Metsubou is skilled as both a duelist and a swordsman. He crushed my father in a duel, for which the price was his weapon, a glaive called Lightning. Then, he drew his own sword, and slew my father, weaponless, defenseless, as I watched. I attacked him in a rage, but he just laughed, tossed me back my father's glaive, and ran off. I had been following him all over the world for many months, unable to do anything, until I met you."

Ichiko was stunned, and slowly, a feeling of gradually increasing terror began to mount within her. If this man, Metsubou, had succeeded in defeating her in a duel, would he have murdered her as well?

Her panicky musings were quickly terminated by the sound of approaching voices. 

"…is totally burned down. Kinda weird, you know?"

"Remember, we still know nothing about this world or it's customs-"

"Yeah, yeah, but so far it seems pretty much like our own a few hundred years ago, with a few obvious differences. I mean, it isn't wildly different or anything. And I doubt they burn houses down for the heck of it."

"We can't be sure of-"

"Quiet, everyone! We're not attracting attention to ourselves, remember?"

It sounded like a large group of people (she had counted at least four voices speaking) was headed towards them from around the corner, and talking quite loudly. She glanced at Kouten, slightly unnerved by the nature of their conversation.

Kouten did not appear worried. He shifted his weight slightly, glanced toward the source of the voices, and waited for something to appear. No sign of nervousness appeared on his face.

The expected group rounded the corner. And they were a motley bunch indeed. A short, spiky-haired young boy, an older, blond-haired boy, a tall, spiky-haired teenager with dice earrings, a blonde, teenaged girl, a middle-aged man with white, shoulder-length hair covering half his face, and, standing in the back, a young man of nineteen or so, taller than all the others, his gaze taking in everything around him, his muscles reacting like someone trained for battle.

An odd bunch, to be sure… and the conversation they'd been having earlier made them all the odder. _I have to look strong, like Kouten,_ she thought. But she was already jumpy, and these people just creeped her out. 

Well, if her body would betray her, perhaps she could feign strength with words. "Who are you and what is your business here?" she began boldly.

A few members of the group stopped, as if to answer, but the middle-aged man froze completely. He pushed back his long white hair, and Ichiko shivered involuntarily;his right eye was a brilliant gold ball inserted into an empty socket, and it was glowing with an eerie light.

Ichiko's nerves werein no state to deal with any new abnormalities ina logical way, and her fight-or-flight instincts took hold immediately. She was running again, just like last time, unable to stop herself, trying to escape. She was running so fast that she almost didn't stop when she heard the white-haired man speak.

"Everyone, grab that man, quickly ! He's our killer!"

Ichiko spun around on her heel in time to see all four teenage boys immediately jump Kouten, grab his glaive away from him, and pin him to the ground.

It was too much for her to process. Unable to do anything else, her brain simply shut down.

***

Quickly bringing the _Gin Hebi _up to meet the sword weilded by the Hand of the Shadow operative with whom Kawari was currently locked in combat, he parried the blow and then fell to his knees to dodge a second blow from the man's other blade. Fighting ambidextrous swordsmen was the worst.

A few feet away, he could see Kaeru covering him with his handgun, quickly taking out two guards armed with machine guns as they turned the corner before they could do any damage.

Kawari finally spotted weakness in the other man as his made a weak downward chop with his sword, trying to hack him in two down on the floor. Kawari rolled under his opponents legs, then stabbed him in the back while he was still reorienting himself after his miss.

After the man crumpled to the ground, he glanced at Kaeru. His yami shot the man in the chest, just be sure he was dead and wouldn't give the alarm, and then followed Kawari up the stairs they had cleared. Killing was painful work, in more ways than one, but oftentimes that was the only solution to a problem. Such as breaking into the heavily-guarded Hand of the Shadow headquarters to complete one of the most important missions since the removal of Yami; to steal the Hand leader's plans for future attacks without him realizing what had been stolen.

As soon as he and his yami alighted on the next floor, they saw three guards, all three bearing machine guns, moving toward them, obviously alerted by the noise on the previous floor.

"Go on up!" Kaeru yelled, as his left arm was suddenly blown off by machine gun fire. "I'll hold these guys off, then catch up!"

Kawari didn't waste time to doubt his yami's ability to fullfil the promise. Kaeru would need a new temporary physical body when he caught up with him, of course, but as the Millennium Ring was safely around his neck that wouldn't be a problem.

The next floor seemed deserted; presumably, the guards now attacking Kaeru on the floor below had abandoned their posts to check out the noise. Kawari hurried along the hall, quietly, and climed the staircase.

Looking down the next hallway, Kawari could see a guard at an intersection of paths, looking straight ahead, obviously not aware of any suspicious goings-on. He only had a sword in one hand and a small handgun in the other. Kawari could probably take him if he had to, but he'd rather not risk it if he could avoid any conflict.

_If only I knew what path to take, _Kawari thought. But Kaeru had the map with him, and he had to keep moving. This operation depended on speed; quickly in, and quickly out, before the people higher up than the guards were alerted of anything. But there was no way of choosing which path to take without the guard noticing his presence.

Kawari quickly removed a small cloth soaked in chloroform from his equipment belt. No need to kill anyone when this would be just as effective for removal.

Sneaking up behind the well-disciplined guard was easy. A quick grab to the neck, the cloth stuffed in his face, and the poor man was out like a light. What Kawari failed to account for was the fact that the guard had had a partner, not visible from the staircase.

The second guard, equipped with the same weapons as his partner, fired his gun randomly from reflexes, then spun around to see Kawari and his unconscious partner sprawled on the ground. Kawari had just enough time to draw the _Gin Hebi_ and parry to avoid being impaled by the guard's massive broadsword. His arm was painfully jarred with the impact. A dirk wouldn't be much good against a broadsword for long. 

Moving quickly, using his small size and speed fully to his advantage. Kawari tried to distract the man into opening his guard. The man had switched to his gun, as Kawari had expected and hoped; while the guard's training may have told him that the gun was the more powerful weapon, the sword was far more dangerous to Kawari. He easily predicted where the next bullet would be fired, dodging and searching for an opening. One well-placed hit was all it took, if he could get it…

Unfortunately, this happened to be a fairly smart guard Instead of blindly following his orders to only use the sword as a last resort, he seemed to realize that the gun wasn't doing much good. Drawing his broadsword again, he slashed at Kawari, who parried reflexively but was knocked back onto the floor by the powerful blow. He instinctively rolled out of the way just in time to prevent being impaled by the guard's stabbing attack. This guard was not only smart, but strong and merciless; however, his attacks seemed random and lacked a guiding tactic or strategy. That was his weakness.

Kawari dodged several random blows, waiting for the moment he knew would appear. He kept the _Gin Hebi _ready, but did not try to parry. Suddenly, a plan flashed through Kawari's mind, as the man swept his sword in large horizontal arcs just narrowly missing his waist. 

Dodging a cut from the left, Kawari feigned an overdodge, and pretended to be caught off-balance. The man smiled, seeing his chance, and lifted the sword high above his head, preparing for a dramatic killing blow that he knew Kawari could not dodge.

Except he did. Ending his pretense, Kawari quickly jumped out of the way, and the momentum of the guard's failed cut took him all the way over onto the floor. From there, it was a simple stab to the heart to kill him.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Kawari looked at the two fallen guards- one unconscious, the other dead, with a pool of blood rapidly forming under his facedown form. He stared at the dark red portent of death for several minutes.

_What have I done? _Kawari thought. And he thought of the man, just a few floors below, stabbed through the back, and of all the other Hand operatives he had killed today. Suddenly, death would not leave him alone.

__

No. He was on a mission. Time for remorse, regret, that was later. This was now. Kaeru was depending on him to see this through. He shot down the hallway which held a staircase at its end, running away from the river of blood that he felt sure was chasing after him. He was running so fast that he did not see the three ugly, grinning guards, all armed with large guns, coming down the stairs in front of him until he had run straight into their legs.

These guards were not smart, but cruel and stupid, with powerful weapons. For a minute they just stared, but then they came to their senses and lifted their weapons. There, they waited for a moment, delighting in the cruel silence that followed. Kawari was still too stunned to do anything.

Three grins loomed in front of him. Three hands moved to the trigger. Three dead bodies, still grinning cruelly, fell to the floor in front of him.

He wasn't dead. And the three guards were. That wasn't possible, was it? Unless… he lifted his gaze to the stairs behind where the large guards had stood.

"Hey, buddy, how ya doin? Looks like I got here just in time, huh?"

Hope beyond hope. "Saguru? Is that…?"

"The one and only, bud!"

***

Escaping to the Third Negative Realm had been an easy task for Shinwaa Metsubou. Because the Saga Blade existed in every realm simultaneously, transporting its owner to any Realm, True or Negative, required no effort at all, on behalf of either party.

Admittedly, it had been a narrow escape. He had been so caught up in the duel that he had failed to keep watch for other enemies. But he would be more careful in the future. He had to be, if he were going to survive and become the Bringer of the Ninth Legend.

But that duel! He had been about to win, to gain for himself the ultimate artifact of evil, the only artifact that could destroy his quest. For the quest was still uncertain. Eight of the twelve Kernels he needed were his, but there were still four remaining. And one of those eight was in the hands of an uncertain ally.

Collecting the Kernel from Second True was going to be a quick stop… that is, until he realized that the current bearer of the Rod of 1,000 Minds was in the area. Burning the library had been the sword's suggestion, and quite a good one, at that. It had got her running and afraid, so she couldn't call on her evil witch powers during the duel. That she was evil was beyond a doubt; she had the Rod, she knew what it was, and she wanted the Saga Blade as well. How much she knew about the Ninth Legend and the Kernels, Metsubou was uncertain; she hadn't seemed scared or impressed when he mentioned it, but that could be an act.

She would chase him, that was another thing beyond doubt. She had seen the Blade and wanted it for herself. And the destined battle would then be fought in full.

As for the rest of the Second True mission… well, it was unfortunate about that storm-man, but the sword told Metsubou to kill him, and he always did everything the sword told him to. That was why he was destined to be the Bringer.

But enough. Heroes never made progress by thinking retrospective thoughts. He only had Third Negative, Fourth True, Fourth Negative, and Fifth True left to gain before his collection was complete. 

__

Oh, and then back to First Negative to collect the Kernel from that group he had left it with… what were they called again?

Oh yes, of course. The Hand of the Shadow.

***

Clutching his injured left arm to stop the bleeding as best he could, Kaeru staggered up the stairs. The three guards lay dead behind him, but he was much worse for the wear. He was exceptionally glad he'd sent Kawari on ahead.

_A mortal couldn't have sustained these injuries, _he thought grimly. His left arm was gushing blood where it had been blown off by machine gun fire. In addition, a large chunk of his nose had been carried off by a _very _close call. Several bullets were lodged in various places in his body, and he was losing blood at a rapid rate. If he didn't catch up to Kawari to create a new body soon, his temporary physical body would "die," and even if you're an immortal, spirit, dying can render you useless for a month or so at least. And that would be nothing like helpful to the current mission.

__

He staggered down the abandoned hallway, leaving a trail of blood behind him. He continued his vain attempts to stop the dangerous bleeding, but it was impossible. His only hope was to catch up with Kawari fast. 

__

And he'll be moving quickly, too. Things didn't look good. But he wouldn't die. He couldn't. Not now, not with Kaze and the whole rest of the Opposition depending on his leadership!

_Why on Earth did I let Kawari convince me to take this mission? It's a stupid mission anyway…_

"Damnit!" he cursed aloud as he tripped over the dead body of a guard. In the brief second he took to study the body, he realized two things: it was Kawari who killed him, and it hadn't been that long ago. His aibou was still nearby. He began to run down the corridor towards the stairs.

_Maybe I shouldn't have let Kawari go ahead, if it was going to be this dangerous, _he thought. _No. We shouldn't have come at all. _His aibou's safety was top-priority to him, even more important than the Opposition. He had to find him, for more reasons than one. He didn't have much time left. He had to keep running.

Too late did he register the three bodies sprawled at the bottom of the staircase. He tripped, went flying, and planted himself face-first in a bloody mass with the corpses.

Kaeru tried several times to get up, but he couldn't. He was too weak from blood loss. All he could do was lie there, and contemplate his folly, while waiting to die. His spirit would become lost in the depths of the Millennium Ring when his temporary physical body died, and it would take some time for his conscious thought to become re-energized into the spirit. It was not as devastating as the death of a mortal, but right at the moment it was extremely inconvenient.

_And painful, _he reminded himself. Death had taken him once before during his time as an immortal yami, and he had no wish to repeat the experience.

But that was beginning to look inevitable, as his left arm continued to pour red liquid. He wasn't even making an effort to stop the flow now. It pooled under him, soaking his clothes, hair, and face.

He had time for one last conscious thought before his mind was claimed by unconsciousness.

_Kawari had better have had a good reason for all of this._

***

"I am no murderer, trust me. I am Kouten the Stormborn, and I seek revenge on a murderer myself."

"I must disagree with you, sir," Miyaburu began lazily, looking at the four teenagers holding the murderer at bay. So far, there hadn't been an attempt at magical attack, but Miyaburu was expecting it and ready. He also noted Yugi's nervous look, and understood that to mean that Yami had the same idea.

"You see," he continued, "I was able to take a reading of the magical psyche of the person we are tracking. Your weapon there is completely covered in it, suggesting that this is the artifact you use to commit your crimes and travel between Realms. There is no doubt that you are the magic-user we are looking for."

"The only question," Kaze pronounced quietly, "is 'why?'"

_"Why" indeed? _thought Aikan. Her mind was trained by the Opposition to be tactical, and the one thing she believed true about all criminals was that they always had a motive. _Maybe it had something to do with that girl who ran away when we found him. Or maybe she was his next victim._

"You murdered innocent people!" she accused, trying to force him into a defense that would give her some further clue. "You killed many people in our Realm, and then disappeared to this one! Why would you commit such terrible crimes?"

She succeeded in making the man angry, at least. "Who are you to talk to me of murder?" he shouted in a rage. "Who are you to talk to me of terrible crimes? My family has been the victim of murder, not the perpetrators! You pitiful fools know nothing, and if you intend to destroy me, know that I will fight for my honor and my father's!" 

He accompanied this speech with a furious tug at his restrainers, to no avail. When this measure failed, he attempted to reach his weapon, also with little success.

"I wouldn't try anything if I were you," Kaze replied evenly. "We are all well-trained in combat, and you'd be no match for all six of us combined."

For the first time, Yugi spoke. "Wait a minute! This makes no sense! If he's trying to go for his weapon, why doesn't he just use magic to kill us all? We saw what he was capable of when he killed Rex Raptor without a blemish!"

The first person to respond was his own yami.

\It could be that he must be touching his weapon to work his magic,\ the ancient spirit explained. \It could have powers similar to those of the Millennium Items. But Miyaburu is correct about the psyche. I sense it also…\

Miyaburu said much the same thing aloud, as Yugi mentioned to the group that Yami concurred with the magical assessment of the man's glaive.

"We have heard enough evidence," decided Kaze. "What shall be this man's fate? Remember, he has murdered many innocent people, including one of my own operatives. I cannot put that fact aside lightly. The generally accepted penalty for serial murder is execution."

Kouten stood silently and still, still held by the group, unable to do anything about the inevitable fate that awaited him.

"I'm still confused-" Aikan began, but she was cut off by a frantic shout from the shadows behind the burned building.

"Don't kill him!" a female voice screamed. "I know what happened! He's not your killer- he just tried to kill the killer with his weapon!"

Pandemonium broke loose at this statement. Duke Devlin immediately started asking Miyaburu if this could be true, Pegasus was asking Miyaburu for permission to activate the Millennium Eye again, Yugi zoned out as he began reviewing this possibility with his Yami, Joey was shouting about stupid excuses, and the girl began trying to explain herself to an audience that wasn't listening.

Finally, the new arrival managed to silence the crowd with a shout of "I KNOW WHO THE REAL MURDERER IS!"

Everyone, even Joey, stopped to listen to this revelation.

"His name is Shinwaa Metsubou, and he killed Kouten's father-" she gestured at the named man, "-and burned down my library! The reason Kouten's weapon has the taint of his magical psyche is because he tried to kill Metsubou with it, but failed when he teleported himself away. If he can Realm-travel, he probably went to another Realm."

There was a stunned silence for a moment. Then Joey managed to get confused about exactly the least important part of her statement. "How do youse knows about dem other Realms?"

Kouten and Ichiko sighed together. "Everyone in Second True knows about the other Realms," the girl explained patiently. "It's common theory. But although it's theoretically possible to travel from one Realm to another scientifically, no one's ever done it."

Kaze looked at Miyaburu for more information. Yami silently asked Yugi permission to come out, and Yugi silently denied it.

"What she says could be true," Miyaburu admitted under Kaze's searching gaze. "The taint of magical psyche on the weapon is small enough that it _does _seem slightly more like a residue than a producer."

"And the fact that she corroborates the story, and the fact that he has no motive…" Aikan continued speculatively.

"Very well," Kaze agreed reluctantly. There was no arguing with true reason and blatant evidence. "Release him." This command was hardly necessary, as Joey was the only one still holding on to Kouten, and the latter appeared much more powerful than a former.

"Okay, now we need to figure out where this Metsubou guy went-" Devlin started to say.

"Wait." Kouten straigtened himself up to his full height and gazed down at Kaze. "I want an apology for the way you treated me."

"Now wait just a minute, there," Joey began indignantly. "We've got a Realm-hoppin' murderer to catch, and if you think we're gonna take the time to-"

Kaze cut him off with a raised hand. "I apologize for our behavior," he acceded graciously. "But if there is any additional favor you want…"

"Yes," Kouten told him. "I assume you are familiar with the procedure for conducting card duels? Good. Because I want to duel you now. I want to know if you really are as tough as you talk."

Kaze kept his hand raised in Joey's direction, cutting off more indignation before it began. "I cannot deny that my behavior was indeed such as to incite this type of request. Very well, I accept your challenge to duel, and I inform you that I intend to win. However, as I no longer have possession of my dueling deck-" he managed to say this with very little remorse, considering how much he deserved to have- "I am forced to select a proxy to duel for me." Kouten raised his eyebrows at this, but had no objection.

Kaze took a brief moment to size up his teammates before continuing. "And I select Yugi Motou, and the spirit of his Millennium Puzzle, for that honor."

***

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Well, I guess I'd better post this now. I owe everyone a third chapter after a month of forced hiatus. I originally planned to get around to writing the duel in this chapter as well, but I just want this posted now, so I'll wait. This is a fairly short chapter, compared to Chapter 2, but I also think it's a bit higher quality. You can tell me if I'm dreaming or not in your REVIEWS (hint, hint). A note on the Kawari scenes: I am no expert in any type of weapon, and don't pretend to be. If I royally screwed up any details about either swords or guns, you have every right to beat me with invisible detail-screw-up-sticks, and tell me so in your review. Depending on how serious the error is, I'll probably do a repost to fix it, because something about how I described the weapons just felt wrong. Of course, like I said, I'm no expert, so how should I know. Hah. Well, next chapter hopefully to follow soon, although I'm almost sure now I'll need an extension if HCG doesn't extend the deadline past November 1st. Anyway, I'm still writin' away, so don't give up on me yet.

-Neptune


	4. Chapter Four: Loss

****

CHAPTER FOUR… cooooooooooool…

Author's Notes: Well, I'm still alive. Took two weeks off, back to work now. Will probably have this up within a week. I'm not feeling extremely rushed anymore because HCG extended the deadline, and I don't have any reviewers except Daricio yet, so it's not like I have to hurry. Oh, well, it's sort of a limited-audience fic anyway, and I've never been what you could call a popular writer. I'm now tempted to go off on a random tangent and talk about what a cool game Xenosaga: Episode I is (just got it last weekend), but I won't because I have a duel to write, and a gore scene to write, and a creepy bad guy to develop. So, let's get moving with the chapter!

***

"We duel with 4000 life points. Standard rules for sacrifices and card limitations. Agreed?" Kouten sneered down at the pathetically short boy whom his accuser had selected as his dueling proxy.

Suddenly, the strange puzzle-like trinket around the boy's neck began to glow. It shined with a strange, and mysterious light, and an equally mysterious eye symbol began to glow on the boy's forehead. Kouten was intrigued. The trinket was obviously some sort of magical artifact to aid in dueling, and he was curious to see exactly what it did.

Whatever he expected, it wasn't the sudden, two-foot height growth and eye-color change accompanied by a flash of golden light. The "transformed" boy looked far older, wiser, and altogether more dangerous. The blond-haired girl and white-haired man flinched involuntarily at the sight of him; the eighteen-year-old he'd challenged narrowed his eyes, but did not physically react. Kouten himself had to admit he was a bit startled by this obvious display of magic… and there was something distinctly odd about the boy's transformation, too…

"I accept your terms," the no-longer-so-boyish boy said in a deep, confident voice. "However, if I win, you must agree to leave us in peace and not hinder our quest to bring this murderer you speak of to justice.."

Kouten glared at the man. Metsubou was his fight, and none of these others had any business keeping him from it. But no matter. His victory was guarenteed. And then, he would demand that _they _leave _him_ alone.

"Fine." He took out his Horatio Pocket Dueling Glove v. 5.0 and snapped it onto his left wrist. It was smooth and made of fabric; its few features included a mid-sized computer screen on the top currently displaying an empty duel field in astounding 256-bit graphics and lined with several blinking indicators (including a life-point indicator which was currently set to 4000), a deck-sized black box hanging off the bottom, and a removable tray that could extend in and out of the bottom of the box. Kouten inserted his deck into the tray on the glove, barely noticing the man's interested look at his dueling glove. However, he stared openly when the man- Yugi, wasn't it?- brought out the strangest-looking dueling glove he'd ever seen.

It didn't appear anywhere near as advanced as the Horatio Corporation technology. It was stiff, and had to be held totally flat or the cards would fall off the wing-like platform that extended mechanically from the top. It looked blocky, and uncomfortable to wear, too, not like the sleek and form-fitting glove that he wore.

"Is that a dueling glove also?" he asked Yugi, just to be sure.

"It is a duel disk, if that's what you mean," Yami told him cooly. "You may rest assured, it can play the game just as well."

Kouten shrugged. It wasn't his problem if First Realm dueling technology wasn't up to snuff. "I shall take the first move," he announced. The "draw ready" indicator on his duel disk flashed, and Kouten opened the same tray he'd stuck his deck in and removed the six cards now lying there, forming his starting hand and the card he drew for the first turn. He examined his hand and smiled.

"I'll play this card in defense mode," he began, inserting his monster card facedown into the tray. On the computer screen in front of him, a facedown card appeared in his monster zone, and the same facedown appeared holographically in the space between the two duelists.

"Then I'll set these two cards face down," he finished, placing the two additional cards facedown into the tray and closing the electronic door to finish his turn. The computer screen and holography adjusted accordingly.

"My turn," growled the not-so-Yugi as he set about manually drawing six cards from the deck inserted into the primitive dueling… device. "I'll set two cards face down also. Next, I'll summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700) in Attack Mode, and use him to attack your facedown card!"

Kouten didn't even flinch as his Violent Rain (1550/800) was destroyed. That monster was played to be thrown away. Yugi had just fallen straight into his plan.

"It's my turn, then," Kouten announced. "I'll lay two more cards face-down on the field and summon High Tide Gyojin (1650/1300) in Attack Mode! And now, I'll use my monster of the ocean to attack your primitive Magnet Warrior!"

Crazy kid didn't even blink when his life points were knocked down to 3750 and his Magnet Warrior was sent to the graveyard. This guy must be either really tough or really stupid. Probably both.

"Very well," his opponent said of the attack. "But that makes it my turn, and every turn I take brings me closer to victory."

Tough, stupid, and overconfident.

"I'll summon Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600) in Attack Mode as well." Now came the critical moment. If Yugi attacked High Tide Gyojin, he would be attacking right into a well-laid trap, but was Yugi a good enough duelist to see through the ruse?

"Beta, attack now!" 

Apparently, he wasn't. "I'll activate these two facedown trap cards- Negate Attack and Dramatic Confrontation! Negate Attack blocks your Magnet Warrior's assault, which triggers my other card."

As the image of the Negate Attack card flipped over on the computer-screen duel field, the card itself did the same, guarding Kouten from Beta's attack. "Dramatic Confrontation activates automatically as soon as I block any of your attacks, and allows us both to choose any monster of either Level 7 or Level 8 and summon it to the field. You will quickly be destroyed by my monster!"

It was Yugi's turn to smile enigmatically. "My dear friend, YOU are the one who will be destroyed! Watch closely as I summon my favorite monster- the Dark Magician (2500/2100)!" The robed and pointy-hatted wizard appeared on the field, glaring down at Kouten's fish monster.

"Pathetic," Kouten snorted. "I'll summon Suijin, the Spirit of Water (2500/2100)!"

"How can he call dat pathetic?" Joey yelled from the sidelines. "His monster has exactly the same stats!"

Glaring at the dim-witted lackey, Kouten explained, "Obviously you have failed to account for Suijin's special ability. In a confrontation between the two, Suijin would win. I would explain in more detail, but I have a duel to finish." He turned back to his opponent. "However, Suijin's ability can be used only once per game, so you've lucked out. I'll save it for the future."

Yugi was finally frowning. Maybe he was just now grasping the seriousness of the situation. "Very well," Yugi announced. "It's your move."

And so it was. Kouten felt the victory flowing up through his body. "And now for Part Two of my strategy," he announced to the onlookers. "Observe as I play the magic card Lingering Emotional Impact, which returns a monster from my graveyard to the field for one turn." The hologram of the card looked like a thousand ghostly heads streaming out from the graveyard, their mouths opened in a silent scream. "Obviously, I have only one monster in my graveyard, so I'll choose the Violent Rain."

Yugi was looking confused. Good.

"You may be wondering why I resurrected such a weak monster. Well, this is why. I'll sacrifice both High Tide Gyojin and Violent Rain in order to summon… Sanga of the Thunder (2600/2200)!" He laid the card face up on the table with a flourish. This duel was going exactly the way he wanted it to! And that punk kid wasn't looking quite so confident anymore.

***

"Saguru?" Kawari was still dizzy from adrenaline and injury, and his mind wasn't fully comprehending what was going on around him. "How'd you get here?"

Saguru was trying to treat Kawari for shock and for minor cuts and bruises incurred fighting the other guard, but he didn't even pretend to be a good doctor- he'd have to see a medic back at the Opposition when this mission was over.

"Kaze sent me home," he replied. "They were going on another mission, something to do with other Realms, and he wanted me to check on you guys. I guess it was a good thing I did. You wouldn't have stood a chance about those guys."

Something odd about the situation that had been bothering Saguru ever since he'd arrived suddenly registered in Saguru's mind. "Where's Kaeru?" Kawari never went on a mission without his Yami, and the lack of slight golden glow around his Millennium Ring indicated that Kaeru was not in his soul room.

Kawari suddenly sat up straight. "Kaeru!" he shouted. "I left him behind, he was fighting some guards, he said he'd catch up, but he should have been here long before now! It shouldn't have taken him any more time than it took me to fight the first guard!"

Saguru and Kawari were both weighing options faster than a bolt of lightning. "You have to go on," Saguru finally decided. "You know what this mission's about- I don't. I'll head back down and support Kaeru if I need to."

He was almost to the far staircase when Kawari remembered his burning question from before he lost consciousness. "How did you get up there?"

Saguru grinned. "Luckiest Realm Gating error of my life," he replied before vanishing down to the lower level.

"It was the only Realm Gating error of your life, Saguru," Kawari muttered to himself.

***

"Since the lingering effects of Dramatic Confrontation prevents me from attacking for one turn after it's used, I'll wait to destroy your Dark Magician," Kouten was saying, looking quite superior. "But don't get excited. The true might of the storm hasn't struck yet!"

This man was a good duelist, Yami had to admit. But he was the King of Games, and not about to lose his first duel since Kaiba at Duelist Kingdom.

"First, I'll switch Beta the Magnet Warrior into Defense Mode," Yami decided, making the appropriate adjustment to his card. "Then, I activate Magical Hats!" Yami was playing his signature move. As the hats materialized over the Dark Magician, his remaining trap card, and two empty spaces and began to mix confusingly, he heard Joey cheering the familiar play. 

"Under two of the hats are nothing," Yami explained, smiling at Kouten's obvious annoyance. "One hat conceals my Dark Magician. The fouth hat has a trap underneath, that will activate automatically if you attack it, so be careful!" Yami had no doubt that the odds would be in his favor. The Heart of the Cards was all he needed to guarentee that.

"Clever," Kouten sneered. "But now it's my turn. And I somehow don't think that your one remaining facedown card will be enough to stop my powerful storm deck. You see this glaive that I carry?" He held up the silver weapon for Yugi to see. It was adorned with images of thunder, lighting, rain and wind. At the top were engraved three characters of a strange writing that Yugi did not recognize.

"It is called the Storm Dragon," Kouten continued. "It is my father's glaive. He was the one who taught me about storms, and to respect their power. He always fought with honor, and he fought for his honor. You have insulted my honor, and through me, my father's honor. I shall defend it with the power of Storm Dragon, and the power of the storm itself!"

"Nice speech, fishhead!" Joey jeered from the sidelines. "Been rehearsing that one?"

"Huh, it isn't even that cool-looking," Devlin chipped in. "Looks pretty dirty to me. Maybe his dad got it at a secondhand store somewhere."

Yami frowned at Joey and Duke. "That's enough from you two," he told his overenthusiastic supporters. What Kouten had just said explained a lot. But it wasn't enough reason to start losing duels.

"It is my turn," Kouten told him, looking cool and oddly pale. "I have but a few more moves to complete before the bolt strikes. "I'll play two more cards face-down, and summon the Aqua Madoor (1200/2000) in Defense Mode," he announced. "And now, Sanga, attack… the second hat from the right!" Electrical energy focused on the kanji for lighting in the center of the monster, forming a huge lighting bolt that annihilated one hat. There was nothing underneath. "Suijin, do the same!" The concentrated blast of water again revealed nothing."

Yami smiled. Kouten's next attack would be the one that brought him down. "Only two hats remain- the one concealing the Dark Magician and the one concealing my trap. Feeling lucky?"

"I don't need luck. The lightning strikes both powerful and accurate."

_This guy's confident, _thought Yami. _But then, I've never faced a duelist who wasn't._

"My turn," Yami told him. Suijin and Sanga were threats, certainly. But he was confident that the Heart of the Cards would guide Kouten's next attack straight for his trap, effectively guaranteeing his win. In the meantime, he could pretend to stall with weak monsters.

"I'll summon Uma the Horselord (1600/1900) in Defense Mode," Yami finally decided, as the dark, Asian man clad in armor and riding a powerful-looking bay horse materialized on the field.

"A powerful monster, considering that it's only Level 4," Kouten grudgingly complimented. "However, it is way out of the league that this game has been taken into, and it's my turn. I don't need to summon any monsters this turn- I'll just annihilate you with my two creatures of the storm! Sanga, attack with Lightning Spell Blast!" The thunder attack quickly destroyed Yugi's monster, but Kouten decided to outwait the Magical Hats ultimatum for one more turn.

"And now, Suijin, take out Beta the Magnet Warrior with Fury Aqua Wall!" The giant wave of water emanating from the symbol in Suijin's middle section destroyed Beta with a single shot.

"One more turn before I take out your Dark Magician," taunted Kouten.

Yami remained confident. "It looks bad, but I've been in worse situations before. You _will_ attack the wrong card. You see, my grandfather always-"

"I don't give a damn what your grandfather taught you," Kouten replied. "My father taught _me _to respect the storm, to think long and strike hard, and to believe in the Heart of the Cards. Those are the three keys to victory."

The bottom dropped out of Yami's world.

***

"My Fifth Legend magic card has rendered all your monsters worthless!" Metsubou gloated. "Now, History God Thoth, destroy what remains of his life points!" The bird-shaped, lantern-wielding spellcaster lifted his lamp to shoot out a bright flash of light, and his opponent's primitive, abacus-like life point indicator dropped to zero. He was victorious.

"Now, hand over your so-called Sacred Stone as you promised, villain!" Metsubou supposed he was being a bit unfair. The people of the Third Realms were too primitive and stupid to know any better, and after all, this man's counterpart in Third True had relinquished his Kernel willingly.

"I… I cannot part with the Stone," the elderly man protested, his voice filled with pain. "It is the very heart and soul of our people-"

"It is the heart and soul of your world, old fool," Metsubou snapped. He was losing his patience. "The winner of this duel was agreed to have claim to the Third Negative Kernel, your Sacred Stone, and I am the winner. Give me the Stone!"

A bright flash emitted from Metsubou's dueling deck, and the old man fell to his knees. 

"Nooooo…" he protested in vain. "I must… must guard… stone… I… NOOO!"

Metsubou snatched up the Kernel from where it lay beneath the pathetic geezer's crumpled form. Only three more to go.

***

_My opponent believes in the Heart of the Cards. _Suddenly, the one assurance Yami had of victory, the one guarentee that would always prevent him from losing, had vanished. _What happens when two opponents who both believe in the Heart go up against each other? It it random? Is it actually based on skill?_

That would make sense. And Yami had skill, certainly. He was the King of Games. But he no longer had complete confidence. And that one missing ingredient was the one thing that could cost him a duel.

On the other side of the duel, Kouten could sense this fear. _All is going well,_ he thought. _The Heart of the Cards will guide me to victory._

"My turn," Yami announced, his confident voice sounding only marginally less so. His outward appearance, as always, radiated the authority of the ancient Pharaoh.

"I play the magic card Graceful Charity, which allows me to draw three cards and discard two cards from my hand." Yami drew the three cards, and looked at his hand.

_Hmm… Dark Magician Girl, Dark Magic Ritual, Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, Monster Reborn, Buster Blader, Shadow Spell, and Multiply. No monsters less than Level 4_... _and I have to discard two cards._

Suddenly, a brilliant solution occurred to him. "I will discard Multiply and Buster Blader," announced Yugi. "Now, I will lay one card face-down and play this magic card!" He grinned at his own cleverness.

"Monster Reborn! Ressurect the Buster Blader (2600/2300) I just discarded!" The dragon-killing, heavily-armored knight appeared as a hologram before him, looking slightly insignificant in front of Suijin and Sanga. Yugi, however, knew better.

"Buster Blader, attack Suijin with Vorpal Blade Slash!" The water monster was destroyed by the knight's sword technique, and the impact caused Kouten to lose 100 life points off his previously untouched 4000. 

"And now it's my turn," Kouten continued. "I activate Time Machine, which allows me to return one monster from the graveyard if it was destroyed last turn! Return, Suijin!"

_Well, that was really pointless, _thought Yami.

"I'll also summon another Aqua Madoor (1200/2000) in Defense Mode, and play the magic card Aqua Screen!"

The hologram card glowed blue and emitted a watery blanket, which immediately wrapped around his two defending Aqua Madoors.

"Aqua Screen is a continuous magic card that doubles the defense power of all my Water-element monsters in Defense Mode for three turns! That means that even your Buster Blader can't touch them now!"

_Why is he worried about protecting useless monsters?_ wondered Yami. This man's strategy had been confounding from the beginning.

The inevitable ultimatum had been reached. _Which one to attack?_ wondered Kouten. Left one, right one, left one, right one… right one? Left one? Uh…

"Sanga, attack the one on the right, NOW!" Kouten belted out his order quickly before his nerve could reach him. Think long, strike hard.

The thunder attack built up and launched. An eternity stretched over the battlefield as Yami and Kouten watched the attack fly toward the hat. Neither was certain of the result.

A holographic explosion of thunder and card shrapnel revealed what had been inside the hat. It was… a trap. As it activated, it displayed a hologram of several red-tinted explosions and flashes of light centered around Kouten's monsters.

Flooded with relief, Yami couldn't help grinning as he explained the trap's effect for Kouten's and his audience's benefit. "This is the trap card Trauma Soul Lock! It will prevent all of your cards on the field when it was activated from attacking, and its effect lasts for the rest of the duel!"

Yugi, resting in Yami's soul room and watching the duel through his eyes, could feel the giddy, relieved feeling coming from his dark counterpart. Kouten's two strongest monsters were permanently out of commission! The duel was as good as won!

"My Dark Magician will emerge from the last remaining Magical Hat, as there is no need for him to stay concealed. Now, it's my turn, and Buster Blader will again attack your useless Suijin!"

Buster Blader moved to attack, but Kouten waved his hand and activated his last remaining facedown card almost lazily. "Mirror Force," he said offhandedly, distractedly watching the trap blow up Buster Blader and the Dark Magician as if his mind was elsewhere.

_I must draw the card I need for victory," _Kouten thought. _Otherwise, this Yugi may recover. He is too good a duelist to put my victory off for another turn. I MUST draw the needed card._

Yami, of course, was quite taken aback by the whole affair. Not only were two of his powerful Level 7 monsters destroyed with one trap, but Kouten was acting like it was no big deal. Not that it was a huge worry to Yami. He had just drawn the Magician of Black Chaos from his hand, and he would summon it next turn using his Dark Magic Ritual and sacrifices from his hand. Kouten's useless storm army would soon be picked over.

_Heart of the Cards, guide me_, Kouten thought desperately. _I can see from Yami's eyes that he will take me down next turn unless I pull this off_… Kouten closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, prayed like mad, and drew. Peeking first one eye, then the other, like he was scratching a lottery ticket bought with the last of his money.

It was the card he needed.

"I'll sacrifice my two Aqua Madoors to bring forth Kazejin, the Wind Spirit!" The monster unfolded it's winglike flaps and soared over to join Suijin and Sanga. "And now, I'll use the card I just drew! SYNTHESIS!"

The name of the magic card shattered the air in the dueling arena, in the peanut gallery, and in Yugi's soul room.

"Synthesis, combine three into one! Suijin, Kazejin, and Sanga of the Thunder combine to form the ultimate storm deity- the Gate Guardian (3750/3500)! And you have no monsters on the field, so, Gate Guardian, attack his life points directly!" A beam of pure water, wind, and thunder energy combined in the kanji for storm that sat in the center of the Gate Guardian's three sections. Combined, into an ultimate blast of destruction.

Yami's near-full life points were obliterated by that one attack. Kouten had won the duel. And Yami had lost his second duel ever in his lifetime.

***

Kaeru was dead, there was no question of that. The three guards he had stopped to battle were dead as well, but this offered Saguru little consolation. No normal human could have survived the amount of blood loss that Kaeru had. Of course, Kaeru was no normal human, but extricating his crippled spirit from the depths of the Millennium Ring and reforming his consciousness would take months.

In an attempt to keep down a mild panic, Saguru used a favorite tactic- make an inappropriately funny comment. 

"Kaeru, buddy, you ain't looking your best now, are ya?" There was no answer from the man, his lifeless mouth full of white hair stained with blood. The pool of dark red liquid that was soaking his shirt and the floor below him certainly wasn't the greatest aesthetic. There was nothing to do now but return to Kawari. Kaeru's physical body here would vanish within a few hours of his death. If there was time later, Kawari could enter the Ring and try to search for Kaeru's lost spirit, but right now the mission was the priority.

Or, so Saguru assumed. He still wasn't quite sure what the mission was. Well, Kawari probably needed help with whatever, so following him would be best.

It didn't take Saguru long to retrace his steps back up the few corridors, and past the landing where Kawari had fought the guard. The knocked-out guard looked like he was beginning to stir, so Saguru moved quickly past him before he regained full consciousness. Up the stairs where he had killed the three buff guards, still not a sound in the hallways except Saguru's softly clanking footsteps.

His footsteps became heavier as he climbed the next staircase, which was far steeper than the others had been. The top- and whatever lay there- was near.

Saguru broke into a quiet run. Kawari could have gone a great distance in the time it took Saguru to discover Kaeru's body, and there was no telling what he might encounter the closer he got to the office of the man in charge of the Hand of the Shadow now- a ruthless and cruel American-born man named Solvaring.

Automatically, Saguru spat on the floor just thinking of Solvaring. He had been a prodigy in the Special Guard, and had always been planning to seize power from Yami when the opportunity presented itself. And he took pleasure in torturing and killing his prisoners. He always returned the bodies of those Opposition members he had captured, if only to sicken his opponents beyond belief. For that is what the bodies were after Simon Solvaring had dealt with them- sickening.

There were no sign of any guards, which was odd. If not actual guards, he'd at least expected to find unconscious forms dealt with by Kawari. But there was nothing.

_False sense of security, _Saguru thought to himself. _One of the oldest tricks in dem books._ He kept one hand on his gun.

As Saguru ascended the next staircase, he caught sight of a shadow at the end of the hallway, moving furtively with the look of a thief- or an Opposition member trained by one.

"Kawari?" Saguru dared to shout. The shadow paused for a moment, and then walked back toward where Saguru was standing at the top of the staircase.

As he passed a window, the shadowed man's face was suddenly lit up and visible. And it wasn't Kawari.

Saguru was too shocked to do anything except stare as the strange man slowly aimed a gun at his head.

***

Yami slowly sunk to his knees, not even bothering to remove his deck from his duel disk. "I… lost…"

Yugi quickly took over his body before he could come to his senses or freak Kouten out too much.

Kouten was paying Yami no attention, but staring over at Kaze. "I have defeated your proxy. I have proven you to be nothing. You are only a tough talker. You have nothing but a little blue static."

Kaze, too, seemed in shock. So, for that matter, did Joey, Duke Devlin, and Aikan. Miyaburu looked amused, as always, but there was a hint of amazement mixed in with the amusement.

"You have lost, Kaze. Lost through your proxy, you couldn't even fight your own battle."

_That_ got Kaze's attention. "My battles are no business of yours," he said softly. "You have proven your point. Get out, now, and leave us to our search."

"No!" Kouten shouted. "Metsubou is mine! None of you have lost fathers! I will track him on my own!"

Miyaburu opened his mouth to speak, and then shut it. Then, he opened it again. "Excuse me, Mr. Kouten," he began, "but Metsubou can Realm-travel. You cannot. Therefore, we _must_ be the ones to bring him to justice."

Unnoticed for all this time, that comment angered Ichiko enough to cause her to break her silence. "You fools! Can you only think of yourselves! Look at it logically! Kouten has knowledge of Metsubou that you'll probably need. Kaze's party has the ability to Realm-travel. Why not _work together_?"

Kaze and Kouten both looked at her. Then, they looked at each other. Then, they burst out laughing.

Joey was confused. "What's so funny?"

"Your face," Devlin told him as he began to clean up Yami's scattered deck. "C'mon, we've got a murderer to catch."

***

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Whew, massive duel over. Didn't get much else done this chapter. Yes, I know I'm WAAAAY behind schedule, but I'm going to try to get Chapter Five mostly completed over Thanksgiving break and have it posted the first week or two into December. I should be wrapping this up around Chapter Seven or so, which I'll probably be scrambling to complete as Winter Break ends. I'll have a lot more time over Winter Break, though, so I'll probably be faster.

XENOSAGA RAWKS!!! Everyone should get it who likes animé, sci-fi, or RPGs, or if you're lucky like me and like all three. Much better than FF X-2... Man, that was crap. 

Sorry, just had to get that out of my system.

A minor, nitpicky note on a duel thing: I forgot the name of all the monster attacks, and I haven't even been using them up until now, so I just made a few up. Imaginary candy and other good food to whoever figures out where I stole Buster Blader's attack from.

Hope to see you in a few weeks or so! (Not a month like this time!)


	5. Chapter Five: Victory

****

CHAPTER FIVE

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

No, I'm not dead. Yes, I promised to start this over Thanksgiving, but somehow… I didn't. Who knows what it was, lack of a creative bug, or something, but I do have an excuse. School stuff always seemed to slow down around winter break before, but this year? Noooooo! It's speeding up! And it didn't help that I procrastinated my second quarter science lab packet until the weeked before they're due… and I have to write a lit analysis essay for my honors English class… ugh. Anyway, I'm going to shut up now. Really. Well, not really, because technically it will still be me talking when I write the story, but… aw, forget it.

***

Fourth True, the Realm Miyaburu had affirmed Metsubou to currently be hiding in, was awful.

The splashdown point was on top of a high, lifeless plateau, overlooking a vast wasteland as far as the eye could see. Lightining, caused by the ominously dark and yet strangely dry storm clouds overhead, struck random points on the plateau every few minutes, cracking the dry, dusty earth in many places. The effect made the plateau look much like a poorly-fitting jigsaw puzzle. Overall, it was not the type of place Kaze thought could be considered "nice," or even "passably lacking in anything exceedingly ugly." Besides that, it was dangerous as well.

Kouten shivered. The storm overhead seemed to be intrinsically wrong at every point. There was no water, the wind was icy cold and uncharacteristically dry, and the lightning seemed somehow fake. He could feel that the power in his beloved Storm Dragon, far from receiving the normal boost from ongoing storms, was actually being drained. The sooner he found Metsubou, killed him, and got the hell out of this Realm, the better.

Yugi wasn't faring much better. The desolate lifelessness of it all seemed to press in on his soul from every side. The constant irritation of his yami warning him to avoid the lightining wasn't helping either.

//Yami, you _can't_ avoid lightning. You can avoid being under tall things, but we're on _top _of said tall thing right now, and we can't get out of immediate danger. So we either get lucky or we don't.//

Frankly, Yugi was amazed that no one had been struck yet, after walking towards what could feasibly be called a way down for more than ten minutes now. But perhaps one of the party's magic users had warded them against lightning, or something similar.

Duke Devlin was eyeing Kouten warily. He had refrained from openly doubting him since Miyaburu had given him his blessing, but that didn't keep personal bias entirely at bay. He was certainly someone to watch, even if Duke couldn't exactly explain why.

Miyaburu's thoughts were also mistrustful, and they were also centered on a member of the team, but not one that any other team member would have predicted.

_Yami Yugi seems extremely emotionally unstable,_ Metsubou thought worriedly. _I can't let on that I'm getting tired from all this magical seeking and transportation. If it comes to a Shadow Game with Metsubou, or something similar, I'd rather not let Yami fight it._

Aikan, like Devlin, was unsure of Kouten, but her mind was more attuned to take an analytical approach to problems, even ones that came in the form of an uncertain ally.

_Why did he even bother with that whole duel if his female partner, Ichiko, had the suggestion of joining forces the whole time? What could he strategically accomplish from it? _

There were three possible solutions, as she saw them. Either Ichiko was actually working against Kouten (knowingly or unknowingly), Kouten had something to accomplish by defeating the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, or his sense of honor was too strong in that case to be denied. Evidence supported the third explanation, but she didn't have enough of it to reach a definite conclusion.

Joey was more interested in Ichiko than Devlin.

_Whoah, she's hot! Check out those-_

On second thought, maybe we're better off not knowing what Joey was thinking about.

Ichiko herself wasn't quite sure what she was thinking about, or what she was doing here, or why. Her involvement in the expedition had seemed somehow automatic, as it _was_ her idea that Kouten join up with Kaze's group in the first place. But there was more to it than that. She wanted to see the Saga Blade again, and she also wanted to see Metsubou wield it.

Part of her interest was academic, but that couldn't account for all of it. Everything was so confusing now… and here she was, suddenly torn from her home on this wild quest to bring down an inter-Realm serial killer. But it wasn't as if she had a home to go back to. Forcing back the tears that threatened to leak from the scars in her soul, she doggedly continued to put foot in front of foot.

Glancing around Kaze's form, Yugi, who was second in line, could see that the party had almost reached the path down. Or rather, the treacherous-looking ditch of loose dirt and gravel that stretched from the top of the plateau to the bottom, into what looked like an equally-desolate valley without a river.

Turning around to face his team, Kaze gave the only necessary words of instruction: "Be careful."

Nobody had any intention of ignoring his advice.

***

Feeling the Saga Blade's harsh glow of anger at his side, Metsubou walked out of the small cave which contained the largest village in Fourth True. The only human life in this gods-forsaken Realm had been forced to retreat into the cliffs and caves, taking refuge from the everpresent and deadly lightning by hiding in stone. The cave-villages were few and far between, and the people lacked any form of inter-village government, or even communication. Some of the smaller, out of the way villages didn't even know other villages existed.

In their own small way, these people were almost as amazing as the high-technology people of First Realm, or the intellectually sophisticated Second Realmers. They had managed to create a self-sustaining community that functioned completely without sunlight. The lichens, algae, and mosses that grew naturally in the cave were farmed for food, medicine, and even clothing. Worms, bats, and small mammals provided the small amount of meat the people ate. And of course, because it was the one thing present in every Realm, these people entertained themselves with Shadow Games.

Unlike the people of First, Second, Third, and Fifth Realms, the Fourth Realmers had not sealed the Shadow Games into cards or tokens of any kind. They still played with actual monsters, summoned from the Shadow Realm by actual magicians. It felt good to play this way again. He had been so long in the pansy Realms where people were too afraid to play for real that he had forgotten the joy of summoning a powerful monster and watching it crush your opponent mercilessly.

It was really too bad he had to destroy it all, but the time for the Ninth Legend had come. The Blade was angry because the Fourth True Kernel had not been where he'd expected it to be, but he reassured it. It was only a matter of time.

He would keep searching.

***

Relying on instincts trained by many years of practice in Opposition training, Saguru rolled out of the mystery gunman's range just before he was hit by the attacker's fire. Glancing over his shoulder at the mark the bullet left on the wall, Saguru was surprised- it wasn't a normal bullet, but a small ball of black Shadow Realm energy, fading quickly after the impact. This was a Spirit Gun, or S-Gun, and the gunman was one of Solvaring's Special Forces, trained with the use of Shadow Magic. The S-Gun was designed for one purpose- to send its target's mind deep into the Shadow Realm upon impact.

Saguru readied his own longsword and .41 magnum pistol, ready to fight back if he had to. He was also carefully surpressing any doubts that were developing about what had happened to Kawari- they were best saved until he was out of immediate danger.

The gunman used his limited amount of Shadow Power to reload the S-Gun, and then aimed and fired once more. Saguru was well out of the way already, and this time gave return fire. The man deflected the bullet with a temporary magical shield and began to reload again.

_Dis guy fights like one of the best Special Guard,_ Saguru thought. _And probably good undercover, too, from the way he was walking earlier._ Saguru fired his own magnum once more, but the man just raised the shield quickly again- blocking small bullets did not cost much power.

_And I should probably just forget the gun and try to-_

His mental dialogue was cut off by another blast of dark energy from the S-Gun. Saguru was trapped in a corner with a split second to think. Relying on his naturally fast reflexes that had kept him alive in the Opposition long enough to become third-in-command, he ducked just in time.

The S-Gunman spoke for the first time.

"You are truly pathetic… you weaklings may have defeated an insane fool like Yami, but there is no way you will do the same to Lord Solvaring. Your little friend could not escape from the Hand of the Shadow, and neither will you. You will spend the rest of eternity sealed in the Shadow Realm"

"Little friend… you mean Kawari?" Saguru blurted without thinking. "What happened?"

His answer was another shot from the S-Gun, and it was clear that the entire speech had been the cover the gunman needed to charge a particularly large blast. There would be no dodging this one, but it was moving slower as a result of its size, and Saguru had a few moments to think.

He ripped his longsword free from his sheath, then quickly spoke the five words to a counter-spell Kaeru had taught him for use in just this kind of situation. The sword began to glow with the aura of the limited power that non-Millennium Item users could wield. Just in time, he brought his longsword up to meet the dark ball of void, knocking it back toward the Special Guardsman. 

Now, it was the gunman's turn to think fast, as his own ball of Shadow Energy raced along the reflected path back towards its origin. He hastily opened a Shadow Gate in front of himself, which absorbed the bit of energy back into the void from which it had come.

"I'll admit, you aren't as weak as I expected you to be," the Special Guardsman taunted. "You have magic, taught to you by your equally weak Opposition superiors. But you are no match for me. This S-Gun contains more power than your sword, and you can't keep dodging forever. Even now, as we speak, I am charging the S-Gun with a blast that will be too large to dodge, and too powerful for you to deflect with your magicked sword. You simply can't keep up with me."

Saguru ran wildly towards the gunman, not even bothering to hide his intentions- he would use his bespelled sword to kill the man before he could finish charging his S-Gun with the final, deadly blast. Saguru lifted his blade level with his own shoulders for an upward slice to the man's neck, but the man himself was running as well. Saguru put on more speed; he had the advantage of not having to concentrate on charging Shadow Magic while running, and managed to catch up with him.

_Kawari_, thought Saguru, and slashed in a seemingly uncoordinated attack. The man ducked. Saguru, expecting this, immediately turned his neck-slash into a downward chop. But the gunman had predicted him here, as well, and rolled out of the way.

"It's all over, Opposition scum," the man snarled. "Good spy through you are, I am a better one, and though you have never seen me, I have often seen you. You are Joey Wheeler, third in command to the Blue Eyes, and head of the Opposition's undercover division."

Saguru pressed another attack with his sword, but the man danced just out of range.

"I, on the other hand, am Saguru Kenji. I dropped my real family name and assumed the name Saguru when I became head of Yami's spy divisions. I supported Lord Solvaring when he took over the Hand of the Shadow, and now I stand third-in-command to his person!"

Saguru paused. No wonder this man… who bore his own assumed name… was such a good Shadow Magic user for one without an Item. He was third in the Hand leadership.

"You see, we are exact opposites of each other," the enemy Saguru taunted. "Spies, third-in-commands… but soon, we shall see exactly who is the faster thinker, the more resourceful, and the quickest on the draw! We shall see who is the superior spy!"

The enemy Saguru leveled the Spirit Gun with Saguru's eyes in less time than it took to blink. In seconds, it would be fully charged, the trigger would be released, and Saguru would spend the rest of his days in the Shadow Realm.

There was no longer time to think. Hoping that his lessons with Kaze and Kaeru had taken him far enough to save his life, his hand moved to his last resorts- the throwing daggers concealed in his wrist sheaths. With practiced motions that Kaeru had made him practice over and over again, he lowered one knife into his hand and let it fly.

The gunman sunk to the floor, unable to fire his gun, with a knife embedded in his head. Grimly, Saguru lifted his magnum, pointed it at the man's temple, and fired. Lifeblood poured out of him like like water from a breached dam.

This man may have been equal with Saguru in his speed, resourcefulness, and reaction time, but Saguru had far more of the spy's most important quality. Saguru had luck, and lots of it.

And in the confrontation, it was luck that had saved him.

***

The team had been walking for about forty-five minutes in relative silence. Those who had them kept their weapons at the ready; those who had it kept their Shadow powers and Millennium Items ready as well. The path downward from the plateau was steep and treacherous, and everyone had to be careful of loose gravel just waiting to send the owner of a misstepping foot down to his death in the valley below.

/Yugi, look. If you can't ever let me out because of these Negative people, how am I ever going to keep you safe? They'll have to come to terms with me at some point./

//But that point doesn't have to be now, Yami!//

/Better now then later, when we're all at the point of someone's sword,/ Yami retorted. /There won't be time for it then./

//They did okay during the duel, didn't they?// Yugi gave a mental sigh. //Look, Yami, if you pop out to use Shadow magic during the heat of battle with a serial killer, it's a bit different from if you're just walking along next to them! They'll get unnerved!//

/_I'm_ getting unnerved,/ Yami grumped, but he shut up after that.

The team had nearly reached the valley floor when Kaze held up his hand in a silent gesture to halt. There were scattered whisperings at first, but Kaze again gestured for quiet, and the whisperings stopped. And then, the whisperers heard it, too.

Footsteps, not their own, moving across the valley toward them.

"Who's there?" Kaze asked.

"I am a weary traveler, come from a village far away," came the tired response from a figure still too distant to see. "I have been avoiding the lightning using an incredible new invention that the people of my village have made, but I must rest. Will you give me shelter for the night?"

This seemed to stop Kaze in his tracks. The possibility of Fourth Realm natives had seemed so remote, considering the shape of the landscape, that it hadn't really crossed his mind to form a plan for dealing with them.

"Uh… we're… actually, travelers also," Joey quickly jumped in. "We come from the village of Domino, far away!"

"Ugh, stupid kid," Devlin muttered. "I've never heard a more obvious lie."

"Actually, Dukie-boy, it _wasn't_ a lie, if you think about it," Miyaburu responded with a grin. "But let's see how our traveler reacts to that."

"Travelers also?" came the confused response. "But… I am the only…"

And suddenly, the man was close enough to see.

Kouten and Ichiko both screamed "YOU!" at the same time, and the expression on the newcomer's average-looking but somehow not-quite-sane face confirmed what Kaze already knew to be true.

This was no Fourth Realm native. This was Shinwaa Metsubou.

Behind him, Kaze briefly saw Pegasus's Millennium Eye glow as he held up a Duel Monsters card.

"Raigeki!" shouted Pegasus. The lightning storm overhead, already violent, became extreme. Bolts of electricity began raining down, rapid-fire, at least twenty at a time, striking dangerously close to Metsubou. The blade he held was shaking with electrical energy, as were Kaze's concealed throwing knives and Kouten's glaive.

Kouten rushed forward, unsheathing said glaive, and Metsubou raised his own blade to meet him. The two crossed blades for a several seconds, neither seeming to gain the advantage, with lightning still crashing all around in a darkened sky.

Ichiko raised her own Rod of 1,000 Minds and began muttering an incantation. Her powers did not revolve around Shadow Magic, like the Millennium Item users' did. Her powers were the channeled energy of her own mind, and her spellcasting ability was the result of many years of study.

Finishing the incantation, Ichiko raised the Rod, now glowing red, and swung it in an outward arc towards Metsubo, shouting "Megiddo!" A large, burning chunk of rock was spat out of the end, targeting Metsubou precisely. The man barely managed to avoid both the meteor and Kouten's thrusting attack, but was pressed backward into an unsteady position. He couldn't counterattack.

Yugi was still refusing to let Yami out.

//Look, Yami, they have it under control! Metsubou's losing! Ichiko's practically setting him on fire, and Pegasus's magic lightning is making it hard for him to control his sword! They don't need your help!//

/Fine, be that way, aibou,/ he sulked.

Kaze decided to join the action by using a throwing knife. He was slightly worried about hitting Kouten, but not too much. His aim was nearly perfect, and even if he did miss his target, it was unlikely Kouten would be more than grazed.

"Kaze, don't!" shouted Miyaburu as he saw the familiar motions Kaze's arm was making, but it was too late. Lightning from the magically-enhanced storm struck the throwing knife about to leave Kaze's outstretched hand, sending the lightning through his whole body and electrocuting him. His scream of pain reached up into the darkness. Aikan and Miyaburu rushed toward him, Miyaburu shouting for Devlin to grab Kaze's fallen knife before it got lost in the confusion. Joey snatched it first.

Once Devlin had ascertained that Kaze was alive and even actually still conscious, he returned his attention to the sword battle. Metsubou was continuing to lose the fight; between the lightning, Ichiko's continued back-row magical support, and Kouten's bladesmanship skills, he was outmatched. But he was also becoming angry.

"Little devil, where is the Kernel?" he shouted at Kouten. "I know you know where it is, you spawn of demons!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, murderer," snarled Kouten. "I will kill you now!"

Metsubou staggered back from Kouten's powerful onslaught, the dark contours of his worried face illuminated suddenly with each flash of lighting.

"The blade was right to tell me to kill your father," he spat. "I'll return for the Kernel soon, but I have a little something for you before I go!"

He pointed the Saga Blade at Miyaburu, who had just drawn a Spellbinding Circle card and was beginning to activate it. A small, bullet-like form of magic shot out of the end of Metsubou's weapon and lodged itself in Miyaburu's head. He let out a howl of agony, more mental than physical, as the spell worked itself deep into his psyche.

"I'll be back!" shouted Metsubou, and with a wave of his sword, he had vanished yet again.

Kouten could only growl as lightning flashed all around.

***

Kawari looked about him nervously as he approached the highest levels of the tower, readying himself to react at the slightest movement, sound, or even smell. There was no sign of Saguru, but that was understandable. The frightening aspect of the current situation wasn't the lack of Saguru, it was the lack of enemies. He knew that he was getting very close to the beating heart of the Hand of the Shadow. It would make sense that Solvaring would place more guards here than on lower floors, not fewer!

He ran over the mental map of the top floors in his mind again. The third floor from the top was a barrier floor, a single room filled with traps and magical blocks that would supposedly stop anyone from going further up the building unless they knew what they were doing. The second floor from the top contained the communications and records centers, his target in this mission. The very top floor contained the living quarters and planning rooms for Solvaring. 

Also on the top floor were the living quarters of Solvaring's second, a skilled swordsman and strategist, and his third, a thief and spy. Both were powerful Shadow-magic users, though the Opposition was unclear exactly where their powers came from. Yami had supplied his Special Guard with magic by infusing them with Shadow power tapped from his Puzzle, but Solvaring had no Millennium Item.

_Now isn't the time to re-ponder tired, unsolved mysteries_, Kawari thought, angry with himself for letting his mind wander. _I have work to do. _

He had long since recovered from the shock of his close brush with death, and was feeling quite ready to take down some Special Guardsmen- if only there were any Special Guardsmen to be found.

_Maybe… they're all out doing missions or something? _But even that theory seemed unlikely, as Solvaring wasn't stupid enough nor undernumbered enough to fail to leave a large guard near his person.

_Or… maybe Solvaring isn't actually here, and he's taken his guard with him. _This was more likely, and if it were true, would mean good news for Kawari. But wouldn't he leave at least some to protect his communications centers?

_There must be some explana-_

Two guards with armed with submachine guns jumped out of two small, almost invisible alcoves in the wall and opened fire. Only Kawari's careful mental preparations and reflexes saved his life as he dropped to the floor and rolled into one of the man's legs, toppling him and sending him crashing into the other man. Drawing the Gin Hebi, Kawari quickly stabbed them both in the neck, killing them.

However, as Kawari looked up, he suddenly saw two more guards jump out of similar alcoves up ahead… and two more behind them… and two more behind them… in fact, there were six sets of two alcoves, for a total of twelve guards including the two he'd already killed.

The next two closest to Kawari began firing their submachine guns, but he used the same trick of falling to the floor and rolling forward again. _Funny how slowly they learn,_ Kawari thought as the two fell over each other, totally off-balance, and landed right on Kawari's dirk-point. But that defensive technique certainly wouldn't work on the next pair, who were aiming at the ground instead of at Kawari's head.

Without time to think, Kawari raised the Gin Hebi and activated a relatively simple spell that Kaeru had helped him place on the blade. Time seemed to freeze as an aura of black energy quickly pulsed out from the dirk's tip, reaching the end of the hallway before disspating. 

The guards ahead were clearly still attempting to open fire, but Kawari's spell was one that Kaeru had designed just for this purpose- a spell that disrupted certain simple machines (namely, those used by machine guns and certain other firearms), rendering them useless. Grinning at their obvious confusion. Kawari ran right up to the guards and past them, but they were still too confused by their failed weapons to give chase. 

The next pair, however, had more time to figure things out, and realized that Kawari's spell had wrecked their guns before he could actually slip by. Both of them had drawn small blades, and they were motioning to the pair of confused guards ahead of them and the six guards still behind them, silently asking for reinforcement.

However, they were clearly far from adept swordsmen, and Kawari was very quickly able to kill one guard and wound the other badly enough that he couldn't follow. Almost scornfully going through the motions, Kawari wounded the next pair. He'd have to either kill or knock out every guard in this room eventually, so they wouldn't give the alarm, but he had to move quickly now to beat the remaining six guards, who would all converge upon him at about the same time.

_Outnumbered, outnumbered… hm. _Kawari touched his Millennium Ring, tapping into the Shadow magic which Kaeru had been teaching him to use. Quickly attaching a strand of the dark energy to his dirk, he whirled and parried a blow from the sword of the nearest guard. The guard's sword suddenly, inexplicably, vanished.

Two other guards attempted to strike at the same time. Kawari did a quick spin with his blade, being sure that it touched both of the guards' weapons. They, too, vanished.

This was almost too much for the poor guards. Failing submachine guns, they could accept. Vanishing swords, no way! So great was their denial, that the three remaining guards were stupefied into repeating the mistake of their predecessors and attacking. Kawari parried all three, and their blades were all sent directly to the Shadow Realm.

Kawari grinned as he waved a hand over his dirk, dissipating the spell. "Some Warrior-type monster in the Shadow Realm is thanking you all for his new swords," he taunted. Then, he stabbed each of them in the stomach, quickly, before any could react.

Removing his bag of potent drugs from his kit, he knocked out the wounded guards, then tried to treat their injuries as best he could. As much of a rush winning was, Kawari had to live by the first rule of the Opposition- no killing that isn't absolutely necessary. Otherwise, Kaze insisted, we were no better than our enemies.

_So that explains the guard question, _Kawari thought. _That trap could have stopped just about anyone… I mean, twelve submachine guns!… it would have stopped me, had I not had Shadow power, or had they actually known how to fight with swords, or had they realized the effect of my sword-banishing spell in time, or had they- wow, I guess I was pretty lucky, cause without my Shadow power…_

But there was no time to THINK! He had to get going, or _somebody _was bound to spot a few of the bodies somewhere.

"Most impressive," spoke a voice from behind Kawari, making him jump. "I fully expected to watch you die in Saguru's Gauntlet Hall. It seems that he's not the great defensive genius he thinks he is."

"Saguru?" Kawari asked without thinking, not registering any other word of the man's sentence. He had turned around, and saw that the man he addressed wore elaborate gold armor, inlaid with designs of men killing each other with swords on a battlefield. In a scabbard around his belt hung what looked like the handle of a broadsword, but Kawari couldn't see closely enough to tell for sure.

"Yes, Saguru Kenji, my subordinate, the head of our undercover operations. Such a slimy man. He prefers shooting people in dark alleys to honest dueling."

Kawari took about five seconds to process the fact that he wasn't talking about Joey, but some other Hand of the Shadow member named Saguru. _What are the odds of that?_

"My name is Katana, Katana Takeo, the second-in-command of the Hand of the Shadow. I was Lord Solvaring's strongest supporter, even back in the time when Yami controlled the organization. I am also quite the strategist, as I'm sure you've heard."

Kawari backed away slowly. If it came to a confrontation with this man, he'd just as soon avoid it. _So much for "In and out without anyone noticing," _he thought wryly. His only hope now would rely on speed, and on the escape team that should be waiting right outside the highest window in the building right now.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not through talking to you yet." The man- Katana Takeo, he had said- threw up his hands and opened two Shadow Gates, one at either exit to the room. There was no way out.

"This will be sort of like an amusing game," Katana began, grinning. Suddenly, the floor beneath Kawari began to move, slowly, mechanically. Panicking, he looked around him wildly, and saw that the entire hallway, alcoves and all, was morphing into what looked like a giant chessboard. Miniature, blue-colored monsters, sort of like Duel Monsters, but unlike any Kawari had ever seen, began appearing in the ten squares closest to Kawari. He could see similar monsters appearing next to Katana.

Meanwhile, his own section of the floor had risen above the main room's, as had Katana's, so that they were above the chessboard-like grid down below. The Shadow Gates were still open and whirling behind him. A half-formed idea began chasing itself around Kawari's mind. Whatever the cost, he had to escape this weird room and twisted man.

He touched his Millennium Ring, causing it to glow, and accessed the spell that would normally close a Shadow Gate. However, too late, he realized that the Gate was one of the kind that sucked all magic into it, like a black hole, or quicksand.

Katana laughed as Kawari fell to his knees from the mental blow that the magic-sucking void had dealt him.

"Oh, did I forget to warn you? There's only one way to make these Gates disappear- to win the game. Of course, whoever loses will be sucked in, to spend the rest of eternity in the Shadow Realm."

Kawari just stared. When was his Yami when he needed him? Where was Kaeru? Or couldn't he handle this bastard on his own?

In a wild rush of rage, Kawari leapt off his section of the floor and jumped up to Katana's. Drawing the Gin Hebi, he pulled out some of the best sword moves he knew. But Katana countered each one expertly with his broadsword, which had been in his hand from the moment Kawari jumped off the platform, and then dealt him a shattering blow with the flat of his blade against his unguarded knees, bringing him once again to the floor.

"If you would prefer to have a sword battle," Katana said quietly, "I would be only too happy to accept. You may rest assured, however, that you would lose. I have a much more powerful weapon than you do, and I have all of your speed and skill plus more to spare. I am far your superior in swordsmanship. I am giving you a special opportunity to play my game instead. I suggest you accept." With that, he kicked Kawari off his platform.

"As long as you're too weak to stand," Katana continued loudly, "this would be a good time to explain the rules. We have exactly the same units. You can find out what each unit is capable of in the book on your platform." A book slowly emerged from an electronic door in the floor of Kawari's platform.

"We will take turns moving and attacking with our units," Katana told him. "Each unit moves and attacks differently, and most can do so one per turn. Some units cannot attack at all, but provide other benefits to your side. Units also have different amounts of endurance. When all of the endurance of a unit is used up, that unit dies." He grinned viciously.

"The first person to kill all of his opponent's units is the winner." Another wolfish grin.

It was Kaeru who was good at this kind of thing, not him. Kaeru, and Kaze, and… what chance did he, did Kawari stand, without his Ring, without his yami?

"Alright, I accept," he shouted from the floor, immediately standing up and walking back to his platform. "And I will defeat you!"

It was only too late that he remembered that Katana was Solvaring's strategist as well as his swordsman.

***

They had been waiting for about forty-five minutes. Aikan had picked out the hiding places herself, after Miyaburu assured him that he would probably reappear in the same place he vanished from. The terrain, littered with large boulders, ditches, and mounds of earth, had not been hard to find hiding places in. She had analyzed it from the perspective that Metsubou would want to leave in a hurry, and would give the surrounding area only a cursory first glance.

The stillness was far from complete. Yugi shifted to prevent his leg from falling asleep, Joey scratched an itch, Miyaburu tried to make his position even slightly more comfortable. Only Kaze remained absolutely still, his gaze scanning the same area over and over again.

And then... a slight movement in the earth. A slight change in the wind. A sudden disturbance in the air, and in the quieting stormclouds.

Metsubou had reappeared, and as expected, did not look too closely at the ground around him. He gave only the quickest of attention to the surrounding dust and dirt before concluding that he was alone. He began to walk down the path.

Silently, Kaze signaled to his team. As one, as though they were her own team of American spies, Yugi, Joey, Devlin, Miyaburu, Kaze, Kouten, Ichiko and Aikan herself rose in rehearsed silence.

Only Joey, who seemed to share his Negative's gift for sneaking, would actually follow Metsubou directly down his path through the ruined earth. The others would wait until he was almost out of sight, then quickly rise again and re-settle in new hiding places that Aikan pointed out, much closer to Metsubou's retreating figure. Then, the process would repeat.

Kaze and Aikan had both insisted that they practice this technique for a good portion of the limited time they had, and though it was far from perfect, it was passably far enough from impromptu as well. She was rather surprised at the potential some of the group members showed, particularly Yugi, whose Negative self had always been rather helpless and fond of inane talking. At least, he had been, until he had been murdered by his own yami.

At last, Metsubou reached the entrance to a cave. Aikan had expected something like this, and she knew her team knew what to do. Taking hiding places very close to the cave's mouth, she held her posture ready to spring.

Metsubou seemed to analyze the cave, making sure it was the right one. When he nodded to himself and walked toward the mouth, Aikan signaled to Joey.

"Hey there, buddy," Joey began casually at Metsubou's retreating back. As she had predicted, he whirled around to face the source of the voice.

"What are you doing here?" he snarled, again just as she had predicted.

"Making sure you don't get what you want," he replied casually. That was the first signal. Making no sudden movements, the seven hidden people rose once again and slowly moved to encircle Metsubou, who hadn't yet noticed their presence but was glancing around wildly, looking.

"You have no idea what I want, fool," Metsubou scoffed.

"That don't bother me a bit," Joey replied confidently. "You're going down!"

That was the second signal. Instantly, Kouten lashed out with the Storm Dragon, slicing the belt that held the Saga Blade's sheath. Ichiko, waiting with him, grabbed the scabbard from the ground. Kaze and the others immediately jumped in to from a circle around the helpless man, and those who had them were drawing their weapons.

Aikan looked across at Kaze. "Operation complete, Blue-Eyes," she told him, a bit unnecissarily.

***

"I'll move my Mercenary Swordsman two units forward, then attack and kill your Axe Bandit!" Kawari winced as yet another of his units vanished from the grid in a puff of smoke. Things were not going well for him.

He thought through his possible moves. _ I could move my Attack Mage one square forward and attack from a distance, but that would probably get it killed by moving it into the range of his Crossbow Guard. Or, I could move my own Crossbow Guard forward three and take out his Crossbow Guard, but then there's his Mercenary Swordsman there still, and in almost full health! I'm out of moves!_

But he had to do something. He would take a risk, and with luck, it would pay off. "Attack Mage forward one square, and attack your Mercenary Swordsman with his long-distance spellcasting ability!"

The miniature model mage moved forward and waved its arms pathetically, sending a bolt of lightning down on the swordsman's head. He looked injured, but was not dead.

Now, to finish off the move. "And then, my Crossbow Guard will move forward two and attack your Swordsman, and my Mace Raider will move forward five and attack your Crossbow Guard!"

The enemy swordsman was near to death, but not quite there. The enemy crossbowman was in similar condition.

"Your turn," Kawari challenged, though his voice belied his own dread that all hope was lost.

"Cleric Healer, forward, and heal my Mercenary Swordsman!" His unit obeyed, and the formerly near-death unit was now fully back in the game. "Forward, and attack his Mace Raider!" The Mace Raider was strong and fast, but not particularly adept at defense. The Swordsman did a lot of damage.

"Now, Crossbow Guard, finish him off without even moving!" crowed the nearly-victorious Katana. "I'll now send my Knight Lancer to attack your Crossbow Guard!" The miniature crossbowman, weakened already, was destroyed. Kawari had only three units left- his Attack Mage and Flying Knight, which were both close to death, and his Cleric Healer, which couldn't defend itself.

_Why did I ever agree to this stupid game? _Kawari lamented, too late. _I'm on his home field! I'm powerless against him in a contest of tactics!_

What would the others do, when faced with such a situation? What would Yugi, Kaze, Saguru, and even his own yami do, when faced with an impossible contest on an opponent's home field?

Yugi would trust in himself, and his friends, and do his best. This often worked, but it wasn't working this time, and he had no friends left.

Kaze would think of some brilliant strategy at the last minute, and implement it perfectly. But that kind of thing only worked when you were Kaze, which unfortunately, Kawari was not.

Saguru would cheat, all in the name of a good cause, of course. But Katana had been so careful in his setup that there was no room for cheating.

Kaeru… what would Kaeru do? _He would move it on to _his_ home field, of course. He would make it _his _game._

Maybe… maybe he could combine everyone's crisis strategies and actually get himself out of this mess. Kawari's game wasn't a contest of strategy. What was he doing here? Kawari's game was a contest of wits, and of speed. And in boldness. And in unconventianality.

_Okay, let's see. I need to think of some weird, wild idea, a way to cheat, that could never work because it's just too damn stupid. Then, I have to put total faith in the fact that my idea WILL work, and then flawlessly execute it, thus turning his game into my game. _Not that hard, when you stopped to think about it.

Kawari's gaze roamed over the battlefield, taking in the remaining units on both sides. He looked around the room, at the Shadow portals behind him and Katana, and at the platforms, and at Katana himself. The self-satisfied smirk on his thin, bony face, framed by his long, shockingly orange hair. The large broadsword on his belt. And then, the solution occurred.

"Alright, Katana, I will make my final move," he said, in what hopefully passed as a voice resigned to the worst. "I'll make one last try. Attack Mage, move two squares forward." The book-wielding unit did so, even though this put him right in the path of the freshly healed Mercenary Swordsman. Katana's grin widened, the taste of victory beginning to form on his lips.

"Now, Attack Mage, use your long-distance thunder magic attack on the enemy commander."

Confusion delayed Katana's response, a certainty Kawari had been counting on. "What? There is no enemy commander-"

BAM. The lightning struck him hard, knocking him out quickly Katana slumped to the ground from the mage's attack. The stupidest idea Kawari could come up with had worked like a charm.

"Now, Knight Lancer, forward, and use the blunt end of your lance to knock him backward."

The Knight Lancer obeyed, Katana's body was pushed off the back end of his platform. The Shadow Portal, seeking magic to fill its ever-hungry maw, responded. Still unconscious, Katana Takeo, second-in-command of the Hand of the Shadow, was sucked through the swirling vortex, to spend the rest of his days in the Shadow Realm. The portal closed as the last glimpse of brilliant orange hair vanished into darkness.

Kawari heard his own Portal vanishing behind his platform, and the game units had vanished as well. Slowly, mechanically, the room reverted to its previous state, with the alcoves in the walls (minus the dead and wounded submachine gunmen, which had fallen through the floor when the room first changed). Nothing had ever happened here.

The door behind Kawari burst open, giving way to a familiar voice.

"Kawari, Kawari, you OK buddy?" Saguru frantically asked. "Anything happen while I was gone?"

Spinning around to grin at his friend, his face flushed with victory, Kawari responded, "You have no idea."

***

"I will tell you nothing. Give me back the Saga Blade or you will face the consequences."

Kouten pressed the blade of his glaive closer into Metsubou's neck. "You will tell us something," Kouten said, "or you will die a very slow, very painful death. That sword isn't going anywhere on its own, and you're helpless without it."

Indeed, it wasn't. Miyaburu and Yami Yugi sat together in one corner of the temporary interrogation camp they had set up inside the cave's entrance, pouring over Metsubou's sword with every spell either of them knew. Miyaburu, however, seemed distant, and reserved- he wasn't talking more than was absolutely necessary. Kouten, Ichiko, and Kaze had taken charge of the interrogation operation, while Joey, Devlin, and Aikan were exploring the depths of the cave that Metsubou had picked out for them.

"What are you doing?" Ichiko asked. "You said some very weird things to me during that duel we had, and you wouldn't go around hopping through Realms, killing people and burning libraries, unless you had a pretty good reason."

"I do what the Saga Blade tells me," Metsubou replied evenly. "And right now, it's telling me that you will not survive this encounter."

Ichiko made a disgusted face. This guy was clearly a few pages short of a book.

Kaze glanced over at where Yami and Miyaburu were stripping down the said sword. It looked perfectly dormant, not glowing, or emitting power auras, or anything that would mark it as anything other than a perfectly ordinary (albiet well-made) sword.

"You do what the sword tells you to," Kaze repeated. "Why?"

"I am the one destined to bring forth the Ninth Legend! It is obvious!"

Kaze glanced at Ichiko and Kouten, who looked as blank as he felt. He turned back to Metsubou who gave an exasperated sigh.

"Okay, fine," he said. "I'll give you ignorant fools a little history lesson. This very sword was present at the creation of the Realms, the First Legend, and was the cause of every other Legend so far. But there have only been eight Legends in history up until now, and the prophecies of long ago tell of nine. The Ninth Legend, the one that I have been chosen by Fate and the Saga Blade to bring forth… the Ninth Legend is the destruction of creation. With the Ninth Legend, everything that has been created from the First Legend onward shall end. Every Realm, one through six, positive and negative, will be obliterated, along with the Shadow Realms. Only that sword will survive, to start the process all over again."

Silence greeted Metsubou's strange speech. Ichiko voiced what all three of the interrogaters were thinking.

"You're insane."

Miyaburu stood up, leaving Yami without a word, and walked over to the interrogators. "Ancient Egyptian legend tells of the destruction of the world at the hands of its creator."

"Of course the prophecies of old say that there will be nine Legends," admitted Ichiko. "But prophecies are not fact, and the idea that this sword was present when the Realms were created is insane! This sword couldn't have existed from the dawn of creation, no matter what special powers it has!"

"It exists in every Realm simultaneously," Metsubou continued dully. "That's how I can Realm-travel so easily. Because it created the Realms, it is omniscient as long as it remains inside them."

"What about the Shadow Realm?" Kaze wanted to know.

"It created that, too," Metsubou told him. "There are fourteen Realms in all- six True, six Negative, and a True and Negative Shadow Realm. They were all created by the Saga Blade. In order to bring about the Ninth Legend, you need a piece of the "soul" of that Realm… think of it as Realm DNA, for you scientific types. It's called the Kernel, and I've been collecting the Kernels of every Realm. Even now, as we speak, there are only three that I am missing. One of them is from the very Realm we sit in now. One is from the Fifth True Realm. The last… is from First Negative, but I believe that is already secure. I left it in the care of an organization I believe loyal to me, the Hand of the Shadow."

Kaze and Miyaburu glanced at each other, but refrained from making any visible sign of their costernation at this news.

"Where is the Kernel of this Realm?" Kaze asked.

Joey's voice came drifting distantly from a long way down the tunnel he was exploring with Devlin and Aikan. "Hey guys, there's something really weird down here… it looks like a… like a tiny universe or something!"

"Guess that answers your question," Kouten remarked, his face a mixture of amusement, curiosity, and lingering doubt. "Bring it out here, so we can see."

"So the Kernels do exist," Ichiko breathed. "I'd always wondered… after that research…"

"And you!" Metsubou shouted at her. "You don't know what part you play in this yet. But I'll give you three clues; this isn't the first time someone tried to bring forth the Ninth Legend, the last time it happened your thingy was involved, and you are an EVIL WITCH!"

With this last attempt at insult, a loud explosion rocked the cave from the area where Yami sat with the sword. Metsubou was over to him in an instant, before even Kaze could react. He and Miyaburu were not far behind, though.

But they were too late. Metsubou grabbed the Saga Blade, which was now emitting painful-looking sparks into Miyaburu's face. He quickly waved it in a circle and shouted "Fifth True!" and was gone.

Silence ruled in the cavern. It was broken by Miyaburu, who leapt for Yami's throat.

"You imbecile!" he shouted. "How could you let something like this happen! This is all your fault! You're working with Metsubou!"

"Get off me, Miyaburu," Yami snarled, attempting to break the stranglehold on his throat.

"MIYABURU, GET OFF!" Kaze shouted, turning his voice into pure authority. Almost from shock alone, the white-haired man desisted. "It wasn't Yami's fault, or anyone's fault," Kaze explained. "He had that planned the whole time… stored defense spells, triggered to activate at long-distance… but he missed the Kernel. I'm fairly sure that everything he told us was true. He'll probably come back for the Fourth True Kernel that we have."

Joey had crept back in amongst the commotion in Metsubou's escape, and once he had ensured it was safe, he motioned Devlin and Aikan out. Devlin looked disgruntled to be taking signals from Joey.

"So we're following him to Fifth True?" Devlin asked.

"No," Kaze replied. "We're headed to First Negative… my own Realm."

***

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Whew, massive chapter over. I think the quality is steadily improving, and the length certainly is. Heh, sorry about that whole Kawari game scene… that's what you get for playing too much Fire Emblem before you write these things. Good game, go play it if you like strategy RPGs or excellent stories and characters. Anyway… heh. Running low on time, I know, but, we'll see. There's not much left to write but the climax and resolution, which I can hopefully get done in one chapter. So, unlesss I seriously change my plans, Chapter Six (next chapter) will be the last. It's been fun, and exhausting at times, but… hey, it's my first completed story, so that's got to count for something. Seeya!


	6. Chapter Six: Choice

****

CHAPTER SIX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay. This is it. No author's notes this time, I'm just going to jump right into the story. Here goes…

***

The colors swirled about him. His sword moved lazily around his body as he mechanically went through the complex movements needed to translate his body from one Realm to another. They were all there, at his command. Soon, he would bring forth the Ninth Legend.

First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, his own Sixth Realm… the Shadow Realms… the Endless Realm…

***

First Negative Realm looked the same as it ever had. Destitute, violent, and dark. There was nobody else in the streets, or if there had been they had hidden at the sight of this strange travelling party. 

Kaze himself was in disguise. It was not wise for the Blue Eyes of the Opposition to go walking about on the streets of his own Realm. Ichiko had used her mental magic to create a simple glamour for him, based on one of her former patrons when she still had a library. His hair was now white, though his eyes were still the same color. His face was longer, granier, tanner, and far older. No one, seeing him by chance as he walked down the street, would have recognized Seto Kaiba.

They had arrived in First Negative inside the Opposition headquarters. Apparently, Kaeru and Kawari had led a mission of very small numbers to the Hand headquarters; in fact, Kaze realized as he glanced at the mission roster that it included only the two Ring holders and their escape crew. What had persuaded Kaeru to act so foolishly? One did not take risks when an organization as important as the Opposition was in your hands. When he learned that Saguru had followed Kaeru to the headquarters, and when Aikan had suggested that it would be the likely hiding place for the First Negative kernel if the Hand of the Shadow had it, it had become an obvious choice to follow them.

Miyaburu had assumed a perpetual scowl, thinking many things but sharing none. His mistrust of Yami had been intensified a thousandfold by the events at the Fourth Realm cave, and he was convinced that somehow, it was Yami's fault that Metsubou had escaped. He wasn't sure where this feeling came from, but he knew he was correct, and he stewed silently in his conviction that the others were wrong to trust the Pharaoh.

_Getting inside the HQ is going to be tricky_, Aikan mused. "Kaze," she asked, "do you have a plan for what you're going to do here?"

"Of course," he snapped, assuming his more formal leadership role. "First, we'll check the status of their cover. If it's blown, you'll force your way into the tower and ascend as quickly as you can from the inside. If it's still secure, you'll try to ascend covertly on the outside. I obtained the necessary equipment for this possibility before we left. I assume you can handle this operaton."

"Yes, Blue Eyes," Aikan responded.

"Wheeler, you will accompany Aikan. I'm sure you are as capable as your Negative self at this sort of thing. Miyaburu and Duke Devlin will secure the tower's entrance and ensure that nobody enters or leaves while we are inside. Ichiko, what are you capable of physically?"

"Not much," she replied sheepishly. "I'm sort of a book nerd."

"I thought as much," Kaze replied, his tone absolutely neutral. "You will accompnay Aikan and Wheeler, but if they must make an exterior traversal, you will be carried in a backpack worn by Wheeler. Don't argue," he cut her off, as she looked like she was about to say something.

"I want a magic user accompanying Aikan, and you are the most easily transported of the three choices I have, being the smallest. Can you deal with Shadow magic traps, if you must?"

"It depends on the type," Ichiko replied. "I can disarm the basic kinds, but the 'black hole' types that suck magic into them, I can't do anything about those."

"Well, it's as good as we're going to get," Kaze decided. "Meanwhile, Kouten, Yami Yugi, and I will attempt to reach either Saguru or Kaeru, hopefully both, and assist them in completing whatever mission they must.

"Remember team, this mission has two goals: number one, assist Kaeru and Saguru in completing their mission and escaping, and number two, seize the First Negative kernel. For those of you unfamiliar with Opposition work, I'll tell you now- we have rules here. First, no unnecessary killing. Second, do nothing that isn't important to accomplishing a mission goal or protecting yourself or your team members. Third, you must always help out an Opposition member in trouble. Survival is the number one goal on any mission. Beyond that… follow the orders of the Opposition member in your group, and do what you must."

By this point, they had reached the Hand of the Shadow building.

"Wait a minute," Yami Yugi said. "You were saying something about checking to see if Kaeru's cover was blown. If it isn't blown, then how-"

"HOW DARE YOU CONTRADICT THE BLUE EYES!" Miyaburu spat. "You… traitor!"

Kaze looked alarmed. Miyaburu was the last person he'd expected any kind of outburst from. "Calm down, Miyaburu. He's not used to how we work here."

Miyaburu shot a strangely desperate look at Kaze, who returned with a confused glance. "You should know that. It's common sense."

The two men continued to give each other strange looks for a few more seconds. Aikan coughed, and Kaze returned his attention to the group. "Yami, I'll answer your question in a minute. I think I know what you were trying to ask. In the meantime, for the rest of you… move out."

***

After collecting themselves, Saguru and Kawari had a serious talk about what was going on so far. The third-in-command of the Hand of the Shadow was dead, and the second-in-command was sealed in the Shadow Realm. What had started as a risky but not essentially major assignment was suddenly turning into a complete and utter destruction of the Hand leadership.

They'd come this far by this point. Why not go for Solvaring, now?

Because he most likely wasn't in the building, Kawari pointed out. There would be enough of an uproar over the deaths of the enemy Saguru and Katana.

But what if he was in the building? Why not go for the whole thing?

They'd come this far. Almost nothing had gone according to plan- except for Kaeru's death, it had all gone better than the plan. Why not make it a clean sweep?

And it was decided. They would go beyond the second floor. They would infiltrate the top. But first, there was the "trap" floor.

As the two Opposition members alighted from the staircase, they glanced about each other nervously for traps. Almost, immediately, one became apparent as a giant weight was released from the ceiling above them. Barely dodging in time, Saguru and Kawari raced ahead into the next room.

This room was entirely dark. There was no way to see anything else inside, or even where the exit door might be.

Suddenly, Kawari's instinct took over. "Get down!" he shouted, and he and Saguru both fell to the floor instantly. It was a good thing they had, because the automatic machine guns mounted in the walls of the blind room suddenly opened fire above their heads.

"I bet the machine guns are mounted on the lateral sides of the room," Saguru whispered to Kawari, under the noise of the blasts issuing right above their heads. "We have to crawl on the floor to the door, which will be perpendicular to the way the guns are firing." They did so.

The next room was not blind, but contained a large orb of shadow magic, blocking their path. Kawari dismantled it with his Millennium Ring, and the two proceeded.

The fourth room also contained a Shadow magic trap, but this kind was of the "black hole" sort that couldn't be disengaged through ordinary means. Kawari had to use several layers of shadow "padding" on either side of his dismantling spell in order to prevent his Ring from being sucked into the void, dragging him behind it.

The fifth room contained a sealed metal door with a computer code panel to one side.

"Damnit!" Kawari said when he saw the computer code. "Kaze's the one who's good at this kind of thing!"

"Good thing for you Kaze is here, then, isn't it?" said a voice from behind them. The Blue Eyes himself had just followed them through the door from the fourth room, wearing an Opposition-issue backpack full of stuff.

"K-kaze?" The normally unfazable Saguru was confused. "Weren't you… working on that… other mission?"

"The trail of that mission has led me back to this Realm," Kaze said. "I have learned, by following you, that Saguru Kenji and Katana Takeo are both dead, and I guessed that you probably plan to go after Solvaring. I must warn you- he is here, and he is expecting you. He also possesses an item of extreme value to the Opposition that we must secure from him. It will be difficult to beat him now that he has warning of our approach, but with the three of us together, we still have a chance."

Kaze took a deep breath before continuing. Saguru and Kawari, used to such briefings and on-mission updates from Kaze, listened carefully. "I originally followed you in a team with True Realm Yami and one other, but… there is no time for explanations. They are here no longer at the present, and that is all that matters presently. Where is Kaeru?"

"Dead," Saguru said, without fanfare or frill. There was nothing more that needed to be communicated at this time.

"Hm," replied Kaze. "That complicates things, but not unnecessarily. You can use the Ring without him, can you not?" At Kawari's affirmative nod, Kaze continued. "Abandon the old mission goal. Our new mission goals are these- destroy Solvaring and seize the object he possesses. Are we clear?"

Both of them nodded. Kaze moved up to the computer terminal and opened the door with a few swift keystrokes. As the two of them walked through the door and up the staircase to the top levels of the Hand of the Shadow, Kawari couldn't help thinking: _What happened to True Realm Yami?_

***

__

About half an hour earlier…

***

Miyaburu snapped.

He had been incapable of rational thought for several hours now. The black seed that Metsubou had planted in his mind during the battle in Fourth True had seized upon Miyaburu's own doubts and intensified them a thousandfold. His brain pulsed with the subliminal messages that originated with his own mistrust.

_YAMI YUGI… EVIL… YAMI YUGI… EVIL… YAMI YUGI… EVIL_

"Miyaburu, I think there may be a Shadow-magic trap around the next corner. Will you please check?"

_YAMI YUGI… EVIL… YAMI YUGI… EVIL… YAMI YUGI… EVIL…_

"Miyaburu?"

_YAMI YUGI… EVIL… YAMI YUGI… EVIL… YAMI YUGI… EV-_

"Miyaburu!"

_Kaze, please save me, save me from this… YAMI YUGI… EVIL… YAMI YUGI… EVIL… YAMI YUGI… EVIL_

"Are you okay, Miyaburu? What's going on?"

And so Miyaburu had snapped.

He whirled around to face Yami, glaring, his eyes stained red from rage, his Millennium Eye gleaming. "Yami Yugi… EVIL!" he screamed aloud as he sent himself to the Shadow Realm along with the ancient Egyptian spirit.

"We will duel now!"

That was the last Kaze saw of them, but he was intelligent enough to figure out what had happened. He had suspected something like this ever since Metsubou's attack. The evil of the Saga Blade affected everyone, because it had created everyone. Lacking Shadow magic, there was nothing he could do to stop them, so he proceeded around the corner, relieved to find that there was no trap after all, and continued in search of Kaeru and Saguru.

***

"Remind me never to agree to something this crazy again," Ichiko said from the backpack she was being… _toted _in. 

"Hey, you're not the one _carrying_ the stupid thing," Joey complained huffily from his place on the nearly-invisible but extremely strong wire that he and Aikan were using to scale the walls of the Hand of the Shadow tower.

"That 'stupid thing' you're carrying is ME!" snapped Ichiko. "This is no fun. Too bad I don't have any magic that lets us scale walls instantly." Then, she slapped herself on the forehead. "Duh! Let's see… Mota no Kaze!" Ichiko whirled her rod in several sweeping down-to-up motions, and repeated them rapidly.

"Okay, now let your weight leave the support of the line, but keep your hands on it."

"What? You mean let go?" Joey asked confusedly. "No way!"

Aikan, however, had already obeyed, and was borne up the line by a swift wind rising from the ground.

"Whoa!" Joey amended his earlier opinion, and let go. The continued hold on the line ensured that they weren't swept off course, but the speed with which they ascended in this way was remarkable. When they reached the top floor, Aikan shouted for Ichiko to stop the spell.

"Ya-majina!" she shouted, this time jabbing the Rod in a swift, cutting motion. The wind stopped right away, and Joey slid down the line several inches trying to support his own weight again.

"Okay, now into the building," instructed Aikan. Joey grinned, removing several lockpicks from the pack Kaze had supplied him with, and began to expertly pick the window lock. Aikan stared at him in wonder.

"Saguru was always hopeless at lock-picking. It was the one 'sneaky' skill he never mastered."

"Well, I am his opposite, right?" Joey grinned again as the lock snapped. Of course, what he had so blindly ignored was the fact that no building as secure as the Hand of Shadow headquarter tower would leave any window or door without an alarm.

"Damnit!" Joey shouted as he heaved Ichiko's basket through the window, then followed himself. The blaring siren sounded at least as loud as a gunshot at close range, and it continued on and on…

Aikan followed Joey through the window, then rushed to the nearest exit to the room. It was too late, however, as both of the room's two doors were now filled with guards. "Too late," she told Joey and Ichiko, rather unnecessarily. "Remember, no killing that isn't needed," she warned one last time as she began to assume a battle position.

Joey hadn't ever been in fights of this magnitude before, but he'd been in plenty of street brawls, and he knew what to do. He began squaring his shoulders, focusing his weight on the center of his body, and assumed a threatening air.

"Let's go!" he said, as the nearest guard engaged him in combat with a sword. Joey blocked with the short sword Kaze had given him, then pulled out his .38 pistol and shot the man before he could prepare for another attack.

Aikan also had a short sword and pistol, but Ichiko was rather at a loss. Kaze had given her only a thin, easy-to-wield rapier-type blade, clearly expecting her to do most of her fighting with her magic. But Ichiko had never used her magic in a fight before. In fact, she'd never even been in a fight before, not counting the battle with Metsubou in the Fouth Realm. But she had a try.

"Megiddo," she shouted, unleashing the same fireball spell that she had used on Metsubou. Now that her targets were much more magically mundane, the spell was able to incinerate three guards before they could retailate. Their charred bodies fell to the ground with a sickening thud, scattering ash about the room.

A few other guards had limited Shadow magic, however, some even with S-Guns, and they were beginning to reach the front of the mob. She had learned one spell to counteract Shadow magic.

"Shimanagashi no Hikari!" she shouted, holding her Rod of 1,000 Minds high. It began to emit rays of brightly-burning light, sending all Shadow-magic back from where it came from. Joey and Aikan stared in wonder at the room, which was now bathed in the magical light. S-Guns immediately shattered, other Shadow-infused objects vanished or became mist.

Encouraged by her successes so far, Ichiko decided to try one more spell. "Shinoku!" she cried, unleashing her most complicated- and deadly- spell yet. A great cloud of black energy was released from her Rod, a cloud that whirled and spun in the bright room. It was a cloud of darkness; a cloud of death. 

The blackness rapidly turned itself into a twister, and every guard who breathed in the poisonous fume of evil sank to their knees, then fell to the ground in a dreamless sleep of death. The spell of death and ruin gradually spun itself out, and the room returned to a state of relative normality, except for the bodies littering the floor where the guards had once been. Joey and Aikan stared at her for a minute, grasping the true power of her Rod- and of her own mind and knowledge.

But not for long. Aikan was too well-trained. "C'mon," she said. "More guards may turn up at any minute." And the three of them ran out of the room.

_No unnecessary killing. _ Aikan's now-worthless admonishment rang through Ichiko's ears as she closed her eyes to the horror beneath her feet, the horror she had caused with her own mind, a mind she had focused on the purpose of death.

***

"Miyaburu, this is crazy!" shouted Yami Yugi, as the shadows of misty darkness swirled about his form and that of the Negative Pegasus, providing the only distraction of movement in a land that was otherwise an endless expanse of black. Hikari Yugi was sealed in his soul room, and Yami was not about to let him out with this raving madman on the loose in the middle of the Shadow Realm.

"You will duel me, if you ever want to escape the Shadow Game I have created!" Miyaburu taunted. He was beyond reason, beyond sanity- the small, parasitic darkness had used his own mind's weaknesses against him. The shadows were sensing this weakening of the mind, and were beginning to take a hold of Miyaburu's soul; his eyes had lost their color, and were beginning to darken to the pure, undiluted black of a mind corrupted by Shadow Magic.

But he was not to that point yet, and as long as he remained physically capable and in control of the Shadow Game, he was a danger to Yami. "Come, play with me, if you aren't afraid," taunted Miyaburu.

This hurt Yami's pride. He had never lost a match, to any Pegasus in any form. Besides, he had no choice. Miyaburu had initiated the Shadow Game, and the rules of the shadows dictated that he would control over it until he lost the game. Then, Yami would have the control, and he could remove both players from the Shadow Realm. "I am the King of Games," Yami announced. "I will defeat you, and purge this darkness from your soul."

Miyaburu removed his deck from his pocket, and it too glowed with an eerie, dark light. Yami matched his movement, and withdrew his own deck. However, Yami's deck remained uncorrupted- for the moment. Spend long enough in the Shadow Realm, and even the most powerful mind will eventually break

There was no need for duel disks, or any other sort of device in a duel in the Shadow Realm. The monsters were real. Miyaburu took the first turn.

"I summon the Surprise Donkey (1700/1700) in Attack Mode!" An evil-looking equine monster with big donkey ears and fangs appeared, snorting and stamping cruel-looking hooves that ended in sharp claws. "And that will end my turn," Miyaburu finished.

"Fine," Yami replied. "I summon the Gemini Elf (1900/800) in Attack Mode, and I use it to attack your Donkey!" The twin spellcasters simultaneously made the formations for the Light and Dark magic runes, combining into a spell that annihilated Miyaburu's monster and leaving him with 3800 life points.

Miyaburu did not seem distressed. "I'll set this card face-down, and then activate the magic card Toon World at the cost of 1000 Life Points. then play Premature Burial to ressurect my Donkey at the cost of 800 life points." A hole in the dark "floor" of the Shadow Realm appeared, and the Surprise Donkey clawed his way out of the chasm.

__

What does that accomplish? thought Yami. _Miyaburu is down by half his life points, and my monster still has superior attack._

Miyaburu answered that question with his next move. "I will then sacrifice my Surprise Donkey in order to summon the Toon Summoned Skull! Unfortunately, he can't attack this turn, so I'll instead play Pot of Greed." He drew the alotted two cards, then smiled at them. "And I'll end my turn by putting two more cards face-down."

Yami examined his hand thoughtfully. Toon Monsters were Pegasus's specialty, he knew, and the new Battle City rules allowed them to do direct attacks on their opponent's life points. But they had to pay Life Points to attack, and they were only single monsters.

"I'll setting this monster in face-down defense position," Yami announced. If all went well, he could end this duel quickly and put an end to Miyaburu's Shadow-induced madness. "Now, I'll activate the magic card Raigeki, to destroy your Toon Summoned Skull!"

"Ha!" Miyaburu triumphantly shouted. "I thought you might do that! Activate the magic card Magic Jammer! Your magic card has no effect!" Miyaburu's eyes were blackening even further. There was now no discernable difference between white, iris, and pupil- all were a shade of cold gray that was slowly darkening to black. His mind was so weak that the shadows would consume the rest of his body as well if the duel went on much longer.

Yami was worried, but not overly so. He was the King of Games, and he had a plan. "I'll end my turn, then," he announced, not able to do anything further. Miyaburu was grinning ferally.

"Your doom approaches, traitorous bastard!" shouted Miyaburu in a most un-Pegasus-like loss of cool. "I will pay 500 life points in order to directly attack your life points for 2500 damage!" Yami winced at the impact of the evil toon monster, watching his life points dwindle to a meager 1500. Although Miyaburu's life points were the same, he was poised to win the duel next turn with another attack from his Skull.

"Now, I'll activate these two face-down trap cards!" Miyaburu announced. "Two copies of my Solemn Wishes trap card! This will allow me to keep using my toon monsters without fear, because every time I draw a card the stacked effects of these two cards will allow me to gain 1000 life points, starting next turn! Now, Yami, make your final move!"

Yami looked down at his hand. There was nothing. He looked at his sole attack monster on the field. No help there. His face-down monster… would win him the duel.

"I will Flip Summon my face-down Princess of Tsurugi!" Yami told the shadows that were invading Miyaburu's mind and body. The pigment of his face was beginning to darken next. Good thing Yami had just won the duel.

"You lose 500 life points for every magic or trap card you have in play, and I see three- Toon World and your two Solemn Wishes traps. That totals 1500 life points- reducing your remaining life points to zero."

Miyaburu stared. His face was darkening more and more rapidly. Yami quickly began preparing to remove them both from the Shadow Realm before he was tainted beyond hope.

The Millennium Eye held in the Negative Pegasus's socket began to glow. The outline of Miyaburu's body began to flicker, then die. Shadows swirled like mist through his empty form. There was only the merest trace of him there, and also the golden Eye, glowing like a beacon in the darkness.

Too late did Yami realize what Miyaburu was doing. The Eye suddenly exploded in a flash of light, making a last futile attempt to protect its wielder. Then, its power spent, the Eye itself began to turn black with shadow corruption. The white-haired, Negative man let out a shrill, inhuman cackle, the insane cackle of one who knows their fate.

Yami lunged to grab for the Eye, to save it, but it flickered and died into the shadows, leaving nothing more of the once-great Millennium Item. Miyaburu himself was almost completely gone, and it seemed that the shadows consuming his body were doing the screaming rather than the man himself. A hand wreathed in darkness reached out from where Miyaburu's body had once been, reaching to grab Yami around the throat. 

Activating his Puzzle, Yami shouted a spell against the darkness, and the hand was blasted away. The small force of Yugi's mind inside his own persuaded him to keep fighting. The shadow-beast that had once been Negative Maxamillion Pegasus swooped down on Yami, trying to eat through his soul and Yugi's. Yami whirled around, dodging the attack, and aimed a blast of light from his Puzzle at the shadow-creature. It screamed in pain, and retreated slightly.

But this time, it was massing all the power of the Shadow Realm itself against Yami and Yugi, collecting the strength that could overwhelm even a Millennium Item, as long as it was only one. He was collecting the strength to send Yami to oblivion by way of darkness.

Yami would not lose to Pegasus. Ever. In any Realm, in any form. He would not lose to what Pegasus had become, either. There was one last trick he had up his sleeve; it was used by game masters, but it had been invented by hunted prey. It was the trick of the lizard, of the sea star, of the ninja.

Yami sealed a portion of himself inside the Puzzle, the way Yami Bakura had done before Battle City. Then, using the power he had gained by winning the duel, he sent Yugi and the Puzzle back to First Negative.

He turned to face the screaming beast of dark mist and shadow above him, felt the rush of death and oblivion as it swooped down on his head, through his soul, ripping his flesh, tearing his mind to shreds. He felt the pain, the terrible pain, as his mind and body were destroyed utterly by this thing that had been corrupted by shadow.

But he wasn't worried. It was painful beyond belief, but soon, he would wake up safe and sound, inside his Puzzle…

***

The top of the tower was not the lavish, kingly place they had expected it to be. Simon Solvaring was a shrewd businessman, a ruthless dictator, and wielder of a powerful Shadow Magic left over from his contact with Negative Yami, but he was not vain. At the moment, he was also expecting them.

Kaze stepped through the doorway of his office, with Saguru and Kawari close behind him.

"Lord Solvaring. I greet you as one professional to another, but I must request that you immediately disband your organization and resign from your position, as it has become a danger to the people of the world." Kaze was ever calm, acting like this was simply another Kaiba Corp. business deal.

"Seto Kaiba, Blue-Eyes of the Opposition, I greet you also as one professional to another, but I must unfortunately deny your request to see my organization's end. The Hand of the Shadow shall continue until I achieve my goals."

"And what are those goals?"

"I will not flatter myself. My goal is world mastery, for better or for worse. I have been chosen to rule the world by destiny, and so I will play my part."

Kaze narrowed his eyes. "On the contrary, Lord Solvaring. Destiny decides nothing. We must all choose our own paths. And if your aim is world mastery, I must choose a path of opposition to you."

Lord Solvaring rose from his desk, but it was too late.

"I must kill you."

The throwing knives were in Kaze's hands before Saguru or Kawari knew what was happening. Solvaring had been ready, though, and dove beneath his desk. He retaliated with knives of his own, but Kaze dodged them. Saguru and Kawari drew their weapons and began to warily circle the American man, wary of more knives.

"It is really too bad that a meeting of professionals must end this way," Solvaring continued from beneath his desk. "Is there not a way that your goals, and my goals might… combine? I have heard tales of your power, Blue-Eyes, and I would not toss such a great thing aside needlessly."

"If you ask me to join you in your quest for world mastery, you waste your energy, Solvaring," Kaze retorted, beyond false politeness now. "I defend the world against your evil."

Another round of knives was exchanged, yielding no injury. Kawari made a quick slicing attack with his blade while Solvaring was occupied, but the American parried expertly with his own small dirk.

"We seem to be at something of a stalemate," Solvaring commented, now out from under the desk and pacing the room warily. "I am quite enjoying myself, though, aren't you?"

The Opposition team attempted a three-way attack with knives, dirk, and sword. It almost worked, but Solvaring ran behind a filing cabnet and pushed it over onto Kawari, who was forced to jump back or be crushed.

"You are involved in things you do not understand, Solvaring," Kaze spat. "You are holding something called a Kernel for someone, are you not?"

Solvaring paled at the mention of the kernel, temporarily letting his guard down.

"How do you know about the Kernel?"

Kaze's response was to release a knife into Solvaring's stomach. It did not sink deep enough to do serious damage, but it would certainly slow his Shadow-magic-enhanced senses and reflexes. The American glowered witheringly at the Opposition leader.

"You will pay for that, Blue-Eyes," he spat. "You should have accepted my offer when I gave it. Now, you will pay." Solvaring threw two more knives, which Kaze expertly dodged, but he was distracted from his counterattack by the window smashing.

In through the pane crawled Ichiko, Joey, Aikan, and Kouten, who had joined the trio as they went through the trap room.

"We seem to have you surrounded, Solvaring," Kaze told him. "Your underlings Saguru and Katana are dead. You cannot hope to win a fight against seven highly skilled fighters, no matter what kind of knife-thrower you are. I will give you one last chance. Hand over the First Negative kernel and disband the Hand of the Shadow, and I will let you live."

Solvaring had turned an odd shade of pale when he heard the news that his subordinates had been killed. He had been counting on them to bail him out if the odds grew unbeatable. And they looked fairly unbeatable now.

"Fine," he said, defeated. If he refused, he would die, and with him would die his dream of world domination. If he lived, even if he lived powerless, he would still have a chance to grow powerful again. He removed the kernel from the desk.

"Take it," he said. "I'll disband the Hand of the Shadow, I'll do that. But nothing more, and then you'll let me live. Swear by the Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

"I swear," responded Kaze, as he walked over to Solvaring.

But then… a ripple in the air. A familiar feeling of displacement in the fabric that separated the Realms. A sword, biting into Solvaring's neck. Choking on his own blood, the former leader of the Hand of the Shadow crumpled to the floor, his killer snatching the First Negative kernel before it hit the ground.

"So we meet again, Shinwaa Metsubou," Kaze said, looking at him blandly. The other Oppostion members, True and Second Realmers, and various other followers of Kaze stood behind him, glaring at the man who had caused so much death, so much strife, so much conflict.

"Spawn of evil, hand over the Fourth True kernel now. It is the last kernel I need to bring forth the Ninth Legend, and return the world to its origin." Metsubou was spouting his usual hate-speech.

Ichiko was turning something over in her mind. It was almost there, like when you thought you knew how to solve a problem but weren't quite sure how it all fit. _Metsubou wants to destroy the world… that's what he calls the Ninth Legend, because the Saga Blade created all the Realms, six True, six Negative, and two Shadow. But… if this is all true, the Blade had to exist somewhere in order to create them! And fourteen isn't one of the numbers of cosmic balance… it's… there's something…_

And then it clicked.

"Fifteen!" Ichiko shouted aloud. Everyone, even Metsubou, stared at her.

Kaze didn't let his guard down for a minute, but this sounded important. "Fifteen what, Ichiko?"

"There aren't fourteen Realms, like Metsubou said there were, there're fifteen! There's a last Realm… something that isn't True or Negative, or Shadow, or Light, or anything! And that's where the Saga Blade is from! And when Metsubou brings forth the Ninth Legend, every Realm will be destroyed… _except that one!_" It all made such perfect sense now!

Grinning at the stupidity and obvious evil of everyone around him, Metsubou opened his mouth to speak. "Very good, girl, that's the second time your line of witches has figured out the truth. Only this time… I'll be the victor. The Blade has chosen ME!"

"What is he talkin' about?" Saguru wanted to know.

"I don't think any of us know," his True counterpart responded.

"Ichiko, the last time someone tried to use the Saga Blade to bring forth the Ninth Legend, someone figured out what you did," Metsubou began, falling back into the pattern of his favorite activity- storytelling. "They assembled a guild of magicians, thinkers, and other intelligent people to stop the Ninth Legend. Eventually, there got to be 1,000 members, including the founder. The members of the guild ensouled the combined strength of their minds into a magical weapon, and then the founder used the weapon to defeat the one who would bring forth the Ninth Legend. That founder was your ancestor."

Somehow, miraculously, Ichiko wasn't surprised. It was almost as though she'd been expecting something like this. "And what makes you think you'll fare any better than _your _predecessor?" she taunted, feeling bolder than she ever had in her life. The Rod of 1,000 Minds glowed warm in her hand, as though it knew it had finally been accepted for what it was.

"Because I am chosen by destiny," Metsubou snarled. "Come! You and I will finish this in the fifteenth Realm- the Endless Realm!" The wielder of the Saga Blade whirled it around his head, and both he and Ichiko were sucked through the invisible fabrics that guard our Realms.

"Would someone mind explaining what just happened?" Aikan asked, feeling put-out.

"I think this is Ichiko's fight," said Kaze. "We must provide her with all the support we can from this side, but we will not try to follow her. Wherever she and Metsubou are now, it seems apparent that only one will return alive."

The others all nodded their heads and sat down to wait.

***

He had returned from the darkness. He was alive. His aibou was alive. They were safe. But another one was not safe, though he was not dead either. Miyaburu, the Negative Maxamillion Pegasus, was lost to the shadows forever. He was doomed to wander endlessly through darkness and oblivion in the form of the spirit of pure hate and malice.

But Yami Yugi had not suffered the same fate, nor had his aibou. Shinwaa Metsubou had condemned one person to a destiny worse than death, but two others had escaped. That meant that Metsubou was not immortal. He was not invincible. His power was not infallable, it was not unbreakable. He could be defeated, by the right person, in the right place, with the right help.

But that didn't mean it would be easy.

***

The expanse in which she had arrived seemed literally without bound. She could see nothing, nothing at all beyond herself and her possessions. Just a vague expanse of blackness that wasn't quite there. The feeling of limitless expanse and the blackness of the world around her reminded Ichiko somewhat of the Shadow Realm, but at the same time it was quite different. The Shadow Realm was black because it was filled with Shadow magic, with darkness, with consuming power. This Realm was black because there was simply nothing. Nothing at all. No light, no energy, no matter, no size, no location, nothing but… nothingness.

"Welcome to the Endless Realm," spoke a voice next to her as Metsubou materialized next to her. "This is the only place that exists which was never created and will never be destroyed. This Realm has seen an infinite number of Realms created and destroyed, and it has an infinite number of cycles still to repeat. And I have been chosen by my weapon to end the current one."

Ichiko snapped her head to face him. "And I have been chosen by mine to stop you," she intoned quietly, her calm, level voice at odds with the fear and turmoil in her soul. "I will fight on behalf of my Realm, on behalf of my friends, on behalf of my enemies, to save all of their lives."

"Hmm, you seem to have developed my knack for storytelling," Metsubou shot back. "Very well then, if you are so determined to begin the destined battle, let us do so. Just remember that _I_ am the destined victor."

A new element of emotion crept into Ichiko's psyche: rage. "There is no such thing as destiny, you fool."

With that, she began her attack. She quickly summoned about three hundred tiny, needle-like spells that she could activate with her Rod alone, requiring very little mental or verbal exertion. Metsubou responded like a whirlwind, whipping the Saga Blade about him in concentrated arcs and loops, deflecting every single attack before it came anywhere close.

He then pressed a physical attack with the sword, and Ichiko was forced to use the Rod to parry. Forced clumsily backwards, she blocked his relentless attacks, each blow taking a bit more out of her, until she managed to recall the word for the spell she needed.

"Dengeki!" Ichiko cried. Mestubou attacked again with his sword, only to be jolted back by a nasty electric shock that seemed to pulse from the Rod to the Blade through Metsubou's skin and into his soul.

The Sixth-Realmer got to his feet slowly, looking about him in the void of nothingness for signs of impending magic. Ichiko, not being quite the combat-seasoned, well-reflexed fighter than Kouten and Kaze were, had not begun any. He began to circle the girl more warily, wiser now to the extent of her powers. He did not intend to ever let her get the upper hand in this fight.

Ichiko, for her part, was desperately trying to devise some strategy. She knew that if the battle consisted of simply physical attacks and throwing spells at each other, she would lose. She could hold her own for a bit, true, but there was no way she could.win a fight that way. She needed a master plan, something that would guarentee her the win that she needed.

_This Rod stopped the Saga Blade before…_ Ichiko thought. _There must be some power that I don't know about… but that's impossible, I've spent my entire life studying this thing…_

Metsubou suddenly jumped in with another attack, and this time it was a physical blow combined with Shadow magic that he pulled from the Shadow Realm, designed to prevent her from using any counterspells. Ichiko managed to avoid being impaled by falling to the ground (if there could even be any ground in this plain of endlessness) and sort of squirming clumsily into Metsubou's legs, which caused him to go toppling to the "ground" in front of her.

Both combatants got to their feet, huffing, puffing, and glaring. Metsubou spoke three muttered words, and the Saga Blade began to glow with light. He then began launching beams of purging energy at Ichiko, who grinned. This was a tactic that would not work on the Rod of 1,000 Minds.

"Suitoru," she muttered whirling her rod in a counterclockwise spiral. The energy beams that were being fired from the Saga Blade were pulled to the center of her miniature black hole that she'd created with her spell, along with some of the loose Shadow magic from Metsubou's earlier spell.

Next, Ichiko spoke the releasing word for the second part of her spell. "Hangeki!" she shouted, and all the energy and magic absorbed by the Rod was fired straight back at Metsubou, multiplied threefold. The Sixth-Realmer had not been expecting any counterattack of this magnitude, and crumpled beneath the blow.

Ichiko had learned from her earlier mistake, and discovered for the first time what to others is the basic rule of combat- get the enemy while he's down. "Meggido," she chanted, unleashing her favorite meteor-like fireball into Metsubou, who was struggling to rise. The impact carried him several meters away from their combat zone, where he fell to the "ground" and lay limp.

_Have I won? _Ichiko wondered. _Just like that? Was it that easy?_ She began to approach Metsubou's still form. Big mistake. Roaring madly, Shinwaa Metsubou arose from the ashes like a phoenix, a dangerous, crazed glint in his eye. Making several wild, unprepared hacks at Ichiko's head, he forced her to retreat several feet.

Unfortunately, one of the favorite strategies of fencing was impossible here because there were no corners to force your opponent into. In a battle in the Endless Realm, nothing existed except you and your opponent. There was no terrain, no walls or corners, no cheering allies or enemy reinforcements. It was the ultimate fair test of skill, one person against another. The Endless Realm was the ultimate personification of coldheartedness, of empty-heartedness, of a mind devoid of emotion. Almost like the Saga Blade…

__

And that was when the strategy clicked. The Saga Blade _was_ the Endless Realm, at least to some extent. For some reason, from the beginning of time, the Endless Realm had been locked into a cycle of create, seven Legends in between, destroy. The Saga Blade was "its" avatar in the Realms, that was what "it" used to create and destroy.

If you destroyed one, then you could also destroy the other. You could put an end to the cycle.

Metsubou was no longer relevant, although he was charging for what looked to be another fierce attack. There was one spell that Ichiko had studied in her library, a spell that had scared the very life out of her. It required no word of power, no outward sign woud be given when it was activated. It was a spell designed to test the user's will, and strength, in such a terrible way that no one would ever use it. But it was a spell of choice.

It was a spell she'd sworn to never use, because it was too powerful, and too terrible. It was even worse than the death-cloud spell she had used on the guards. In fact, it was so powerful that the only way to use it was at the cost of the user's life and the user's spellcasting weapon- the Rod of 1,000 Minds.

It was a spell to dismantle the fabric of the very Realm you were in. Everything alive in the Realm would be slowly shifted back into another Realm, the last Realm you were in, but the Realm itself would cease to exist. If she used it on the Endless Realm… the Saga Blade would be destroyed, and the Six Realms would be saved from ever having to face the terrible, apocalyptic Ninth Legend.

It was the strategy. It was the answer she had sought. All it would cost was her life. _That isn't that much, _thought Ichiko. _One library nerd, compared to fourteen Realms full of people… not a hard decision at all._

Metsubou had reached her, fury in his eyes, sword in his hand. But it was too late. As she activated the spell that would save the world, she crumpled to the ground, dying. But she had time for one last thought.

_I made the right choice. Kouten, Kaze… all of them. I hope they will understand._

Shinwaa Metsubou opened his mouth in aject horror, staring in turn from the dead girl on the ground before him to the sword that he held in his hand, which was disintegrating into nonexistence. The Endless Realm was being destroyed, he realized, and so was the Saga Blade.

But her creations, the Six Realms, True and Negative, and the Shadow Realms, they would live on. As he was shoved back through spacetime to First Negative, Metsubou let out a cry of despair. Not only had his Blade failed against the sheer power of Ichiko's choice, but that choice had ensured that no one would ever succeed in doing what he tried to do again.

In that one instant, Metsubou's life lost its purpose.

***

Kaze and the others had just finished bringing Saguru and Kawari up to scratch on what had occurred during their quest to bring justice to Metsubou and avenge his murder victims. Yami had arrived, Yugi with him, and they had explained the circumstances of Miyaburu's demise. The mood was anything but happy as they sat in the office-like room that had once belonged to Simon Solvaring, still waiting for something to happen.

Then, the fabric of the room rippled. It felt different this time, less like a person moving through, more like something just _settling _and locking into place. Two forms materialized on the floor near the desk. Everyone except the two Joeys got to their feet, eagerly scanning to see who- or what- had arrived.

It was Metsubou and Ichiko. Metsubou was alive. Ichiko was dead.

"YOU BASTARD!" screamed Kouten, rippling his glaive free from its sheath. "YOU KILLED MY FATHER, AND NOW YOU'VE KILLED HER TOO!"

Metsubou was on his knees, weeping. Everyone rushed to seize him- everyone except Kaze. Kaze was also the only one who noticed the absence of the Saga Blade.

"Ruined… ruined…" Metsubou was muttering to himself. "She… too powerful… she has defeated me…"

"What do you mean?" spat Kouten icily, his glaive inches from Metsubou's neck.

"She killed herself to destroy the Saga Blade, and the Endless Realm," Metsubou said dully. His voice was flat, with none of its former energy and calculated drama. "She's dead, but she beat me. The one thing that the Saga Blade couldn't beat… was the choice of a powerful human. Her choice to die rather than see the Six Realms destroyed. She beat me."

He still spoke as if he couldn't quite believe what had happened.

Kaze got to his feet slowly. All of the people in the room stood silently, gazing down on Ichiko's body and Metsubou's limp form. No one was sure how to proceed.

No one it seemed, except Metsubou himself. He shuffled up to a standing postion, methodically placed foot in front of foot until he reached the open window, and jumped out. Anyone who knew him would have said Shinwaa Metsubou was destined to meet his end heroically, on the end of a foe's blade. Instead, he was destined to fall 300 stories to his meaningless death in a dark alleyway of a troubled city.

***

There was a lot to work out. Some of them understood Ichiko's choice, some did not. Joey and Aikan both wondered why she hadn't held out for some other way, hadn't tried some other means of escape. Yami and Kaze both understood that there hadn't been one. Saguru and Kawari hadn't known Ichiko well enough to grieve, but both were dully impressed by the power she wielded, in life and in death. Kaeru, when he was reborn inside the Millennium Ring a few months later, had his own ideas about life and death, which he kept to himself. Duke Devlin, who was informed of the events in the Hand of the Shadow tower later (had had been guarding the entrance during the final operation of the Opposition) was not struck in quite the same way by the deaths of Ichiko and Metsubou, but he still felt a definite feeling of sadness for the bookish, fearful girl who had saved their lives.

Kouten was deeply depressed and disturbed. It seemed like as soon as he began to care for someone, to love someone, that someone would meet an untimely death. He returned to the Second Realm, to his home by the sea, and eventually he recovered and began to live a normal life again, but the shadow of darkness never quite left him. Metsubou had been able to play off of Miyaburu's fears and use Shadow power to enhance them to the point where they consumed his soul. Kouten's fears were so great that he didn't need Shadow power to feed them. He lived with his own personal darkness all his life, and the only thing he could ever love again were the storms.

Yami could not forgive Metsubou for what he had done to Miyaburu. The others all hated him for murdering people, but none had seen the full effect of his insanity the way Yami had. The image of Miyaburu's deadly, shadowed form was burned in the back of his skull; the deadly panic and pain as his life flashed before his eyes, the swift flutter of death as it rushed into his skull, they would all be lasting parts of his life from now on. This was his darkness, but one that he could control better than Kouten could. As long as he continued to hate Metsubou, however, there was no relief in sight.

And Kaze… Kaze, the fearless Blue-Eyes, was suddenly without a job. He had seen more horror in the past few days than any ninteen-year-old should ever have to. But then again, he had seen more horror in his life than anyone could ever imagine here in First True.

He could work it out in time. And Yami, and even Kouten, could learn to deal with their darkness. Grief would pass in time. But thanks to Ichiko's choice, time still existed to pass. Thanks to her choice, the Ninth Legend had been thwarted.

And existence would continue forevermore.

***

***

****

***

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I can't believe I'm finally finished. Well, I just finished watching the Academy Awards before I wrote this, so I feel like I should give out a thank-you speech or something. Well, I'd like to first of all thank my parents for putting up with me while I wrote this over the past five months, High Crystal Guardian for her fantastic fanfiction series for the inspiration it brought (and for sponsoring this contest), and to myself for the time and effort I put into this (a bit self-serving, but its true!). I'd also like to thank OverClocked Remix (www(dot)ocremix(dot)org) for providing the music I listened to while writing this. Can't write without music! And NO THANKS to Microsoft for building another crappy Windows version to crash on me in the middle of Chapter Three.

I can't believe this is finally over. I would welcome comments (heh, haven't received many so far), but I didn't write this for the reviews. Although this probably wasn't my original purpose when I started this story, I realize now that this fanfic has helped me grow immensely as a writer. Already, I feel much more mature in terms of style than I did five months ago. So, no matter how well or poorly I do in the contest, I'm glad I did this because it is my first COMPLETED serial fanfic, and it helped prove to me that I could complete one, and it helped me find myself (a little). With that, I shall simply end with a quote from Chrono Trigger, one of the greatest games of all time:

"If history is to change, let it change. If my fate is to die, I must simply laugh."


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